MichiganChic

How many calories do you eat? How much fluid do you get in? I was pretty tired at 600 calories a day.

I had that fear. I still do fear I won't lose any more. Probably irrational, but I sure do understand what you are saying! I couldn't lose weight before, so why now, I figured. The difference is that you can't over eat. You can't take a break. You can't go on a binge. You still have to do your part, but it's the long haul that makes the difference.

You'll hear strong opinions both ways. I think it's what works for you. I am a daily weigher, all the way. I want to know what happening, so that if I am not losing, I'm not disappointed after a week of thinking I probably lost 2 or 3 pounds, only to discover I gained .2! To me, that's far worse than knowing I'm stuck. I've read things that weighing daily is a habit of successfully thin people. I also know people who never weigh except at the dr and are successful, and some who weigh weekly. Do what works for you.

It can be frustrating, but really, your body can only shed weight so fast. This is where the sleeve really makes the difference - it's helps us stay on plan so we don't get sidetracked while our bodies catch up. If you look at your overall loss, it's really quite good, and ahead of many people (though we really shouldn't compare because we are all unique). You've lost an average of 20 pounds a month, or roughly 3-4 pounds per week, even with no loss the past few weeks. That's great! When it's coming off fast like that I think "at this rate I'll be at goal in no time!" but then I hit a stall. I know I'm doing all I can, and it's just the way my body is going to respond to the changes. If you are following your plan, the only thing to do is keep doing it. You'll probably get a lot of advice about changing carbs, calories, Protein, Water, etc, but I'm not a believer. To me, that sends the message that I am somehow "failing" because I'm not losing as fast as I should/could, which is ludicrous. I'm pretty sure eating 800-1000 calories a day won't maintain my current weight, lol. Adding exercise can help loss, and it certainly helps with toning and mental outlook, so I do recommend that. Good luck.

I've been a registered nurse for 30 years (I used to walk to school in a mile in the snow ....) I still remember my first round in nursing school like yesterday. It was tough, but certainly worth it. I had a diploma in nursing, from an accredited hospital. I also went back a few years ago for RN to BSN, so yes, I do think that's a great choice. It allows you to work, get experience, and work at your degree. It's great for people who need to work. I also completed my Masters in Nursing a couple of years ago. I think nursing is an excellent choice. It allowed me the flexibility to work part time while rasing my family, move all around in many different roles from hospital nursing to homecare and hospice. I've done quality work, education, and supervision. I'm currently an informatics nurse implementing electronic hiealth records, and I love it. Anyway - once you become a nurse, the options are limitless. Each program I went through was tough, but you can do it with dedication and perseverance. Good luck!

I get excited because while my clothes don't fit long, it's not because they are getting too tight like they used to, before surgery. I get excited because I don't have to fear going places because the chair is too tight. I get a thrill from being able to easily tie my shoes. I love waking up every day knowing I have the real potential to be a thin person, knowing I was not controlled by food yesterday, and I won't be today, either.

My fitness pal. It's a great app! You can have friends on there, and lots of people from VST use it.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think that's great advice, and really the truth of the matter - "Stay Strong". Doing that on a daily basis will help with retraining. I still think it's demonic, though

Very good advice, thanks. For me, the trigger was home alone in the house. And I AM like a Pavlovian dog! Empty house = Eat. I wasn't hungry, stressed, emotional, or bored. I'm sure hoping the mental retraining can work for me, too. I got up off the computer and did a little housework for a few minutes to distract myself. I don't graze either, but like I said, I could, and I don't think I'm cured of the Pavlovian response I have. This particular trigger, on this day, really wasn't that hard to overcome, but I know sometimes it can be, so I wanted to know how others handle it. I used to be a stress eater, and I do use exercise to help with that, and I'm totally shocked at how well it works, lol! I might try the alarm thing, seems like a good idea.

Oh yeah, me too! I think it makes my thin 17 year old daughter think twice before she sticks something in her mouth. I showed her my hideously huge and flabby underarms and she was just incredulous, lol. She's pretty sweet I don't think she wanted to hurt my feelings, but I think it scared her, haha! Hell, it scares me too.

Please add me, too! tboosrn

Um, yeah, and if you saw it, you'd know why!

Personally, I think the intent of this thread is to discuss if you would do this again, I think everyone gave their honest opinions honored the intent. I also don't think there are a lot of people who just are totally dissatisfied or regret it. Statistically (using Alex's numbers and subtracting the people who have not had surgery), a little over 3% of the people wouldn't do this again, and a little over 3% of the people would have a different surgery, but would do it again. Combined, that accounts for about 6-7% of the overall population of respondents. The overwhelming majority would do it again. All opinions matter here. While it's not a scientific study, I think it's probably pretty good anecdotal evidence, and valuable to someone considering surgery. Having said that, people are answering the question whether they are a week out or a year out, and that impacts the way they answer, so the results may be skewed based on that. I also think the respondents feelings are just that - feelings, which all are entitled to, and have provided because the question was asked. I think it would be great to do a follow up and see how we all feel in a year. Some of us might answer differently, pending the results longer term. Obesity is a life long fight, and even with something as "permanent" as VSG, we will all need to continue battling our demons. Only time will tell if the surgery will make a permanent, positive impact on us as individuals to determine if we would, in fact, have weight loss surgery again.

Man, that's tough, I've been there. Makes me wonder if you work in healthcare IT, lol? Anyway, before my surgery, I had a job just like that, I gained 70 pounds over 5 years, and I had no time for myself. I was filled with self loathing because I couldn't seem to lose weight, no matter what I did. I changed jobs last summer, and decided to do this surgery. I have much bettter work/life balance, I make myself a priority (my old job didn't allow for that) and I avoid work related stress....and I'm willing to bet if I had that same stress and handled it the same way, I STILL wouldn't be losing weight even after surgery. So, your question is a good one. If you can't change your job, you might think of ways to schedule time for yourself. I have colleagues who are fit as a fiddle. They travel all the time, and they capitalize on the time away from home by getting to hotel gyms early in the day, they block time out for their exercise, and make sure to choose healthy foods. I used to think that when people said exercise was a stress reliever that was BS, but I'm finding it's actually TRUE, lol!! While my current position is much less demanding than the old one, I think that because I force myself to exercise, I tolerate the stress better. Therefore, I think it's less stressful than it actually is. That was a really long winded response for a simple suggestion - make yourself the priority! Work is going to be there, but your health may not be.

Look at you, 91 pounds down!!! Great job, and congratulations!

Wow, what an accomplishment!! So happy for you, you must feel phenomenal on so many levels! Great job

Actually, the B12 sublingual can be quite effective. I was taking sublingual daily, and my blood levels were quadruple the normal. I had to decrease my dose. Perhaps your case was different, but that doesn't make it true accross the board. To the OP, it was several weeks before I felt good....but I did have a steady improvement during that time. It's normal to feel rough after such a major surgery. Some people are lucky and feel great after a day or two, it takes others longer, but as long as they are not having complications, that's normal, too.

F U N N Y! Thankfully, I do not have this "skill", lol. I think if I did, I would be crying about my regret for havaing had the surgery. I'm with OP - for a 50 year old woman, I'm never in a position to show off with it

I think it's within the realm of normal. To recover from a major surgery like this, it's really a minimum of six weeks. It also depends on your diet and current weight. When I was eating 400-500 calories and trying to support nearly 300 pounds, I was tired! It's just not enough fuel to feel energetic. I also feel very bad on too low of carbs - I think that's unique to the individual, but I can't function on none. Also, my iron levels were a little low at first, so I think that contributed to feeling exhausted for me. I agree with Ballermom, that exercise can improve your energy level, particularly if you do some strength training. So, my advice it to follow your program, get some extra rest while you need it, stay hydrated, and give it some time. It does get better

Here's one - that you will feel great in no time, like a day or two, after having major surgery where they remove 85% of your stomach. Your energy level will through the roof!! Geeze....hate to admit it, but I was really hoping that one was true! Um, not so much.

It's normal, and while everyone is different, I think most felt pretty rough the first few days. We all improve at different rates, and not always in a steady or linear fashion. Just take it a day at a time, keep sipping, and hang in there. It does get better - for real!

Had my 4 month check up today. Down 69 pounds....for some reason I was really hoping to hit 70, but that's close enough! All my labs are good, they are pleased with my loss, so all is good. I feel so fortunate....to have been able to have the surgery, to have suffered no major complications, and to have lost this weight. Oh, and found out they used a size 36 Bougie....all this talk of bougies made me wonder!

Wow, is that ever the truth!! In some ways, the surgery does make it easier to succeed - I'm not quite as hungry, feel better eating less, etc. However, it is harder in some ways because you can't just change your mind anymore. We are forced to stick with it, we can't take a break, for the most part. We have invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears into having a major surgery and the subsequent recovery, and made a committment to ourselves, so it has a sense of "last chance" associated with it for many of us. Considering all that, there is pressure to not fail. For someone like me who has a lot to lose and does not lose it super fast, I have to be motivated because it's a long journey. And because I don't want to fail, I am practicing self restraint - the surgery did not give me that or motivation. It's a great tool, but success comes from within.

That's just funny. Can't you just see a bunch of kids sitting around a table thinking that crap up, thinking no one's ever going to notice? Oh, I'm sure that was intentional by someone....some brat, lol.

I would wait and go with the VA. Why spend money you don't have to?