Leonafire

I believe anyone that has 85% of their stomach removed will lose weight. You can't help but lose, if you are limited to 4oz of food every few hours.
 
Now the big question is, where is your hunger coming from? Only you can figure that part out. Is it from emotional eating, boredome, stress, or is it because you have hunger pangs caused by the hormone ghrelin?
 
From my own experience, I knew that my hunger was real (even though I had eaten 2 hours earlier, I'd be hungry again). It wasn't until I talked to my surgeon that he told me that I had an excess of the hormone ghrelin (produced by the stomach). The bigger the stomach, the more of the hormone produced.
 
The surgery stopped my hunger pangs. I have not had that nagging sense of hunger (other than my stomach growling) since surgery 7 weeks ago. And 4 or 5 oz of food keeps me satisfied, whereas before, I could eat 1 lb of steak and know I'd be raiding the fridge in 2 hours.
 
And I don't have any cravings anymore for certain flavors. Whereas before, I'd think about something that would taste good and I couldn't get the thought out of my head until I ate it - and a lot of it, not just a small portion.
 
Don't get me wrong, you can sabotage yourself after surgery. There are foods, called slider foods, that are calorie dense (ice cream, peanut butter) that pass through the stomach quickly, so it's possible to eat more. And it is possible to just graze all day on snacks that are high in calories.
 
The sleeve gave me the control over my eating that I needed. When I eat, I have full control of what I eat. I can pass on the donuts or just have 1 and be satisfied. With the exception of pasta - it triggers my sugar cravings. So I have to be real careful about eating it.
 
But I don't know if I'd the same success if my hunger was tied to my emotions instead of hormones.
 
I really believe food was an addiction - one you can't quit and never touch again.
 
Other addictions can be quit and never touched again. But what if a heroine addict, smoker or alcoholic knew they had to take some every day or their body would die?
 
What if they had 75 TV channels that ran commericals for cigarrets every 10 minutes during their favorite programs? Or had reality programs (like the best places to pig out or the food challenges) devoted to the best places to get their fix and showed people taking drugs and loving it? Could the addicts just reduce the amount they took every day and never over do it or would they give in to the nagging voice in their head telling them how good it was going to feel?
 
Ok, rant over. :-)

I've only had a few fears about going though the whole VSG process, all of them were reserved for life after surgery. Was I going to lose my hair? Will I still be able to have a fun night out with friends? The dreaded loose skin...
 
I didn't count on having my relationship go directly in the crapper and all before I even got the surgery.
 
After nearly 6 years of seeing a self professed chubby chaser, I naively thought that what he'd be understanding about everything. That I was extremely unhappy about my size and needed this to change. His first response was one of assurance that I was sexy the way that I was and there was no need for me to change.
 
Once he saw that was pretty serious about going though with this the reponse was increasingly negative. "You know I don't like skinny chicks" "I don't know how I'm going to feel about you after this" "I'm not going to be attracted to you". Oh silly me, I thought he loved me for me.
 
Long story short, 3 weeks ago one evening after I had cooked one of his favorite meals, baked a cheesecake for him (I hate cheesecake) banged his brains out, ran his bath (all things I love doing for the guy I love) we get into a little joking tiff about certain moments where his behavior was a little off over the past year. At least it started as a joke, until he started acting defensive. Red flag. So I didn't fly off the handle, oh no, I calmly said "I'm tired of you treating me like I'm stupid" and walked out. He finishes up in the bath and comes out and says "OK, OK, I screwed some chick" "It wasn't anything, it was just sex"
 
GTFO here with that BS.
 
I can't say that I was shocked but I'm angry that I didn't follow my first mind when it was screaming at me.
 
I'm frustrated that I have to go though this surgery alone now as well. I'm glad that I know now so I can stop wasting valuable time on someone who obviously did not value me enough to be honest, or better yet, to not creep around behind my back.
 
I'm a little concerned that I'm not laying in bed in my PJ's with a bowl of ice cream (ok a few bowls of ice cream) or plotting some diabolical revenge senario. It's really unsual for me. Although I did briefly have the urge to throw my cat on his face and hope that his eyes where gouged out.
 
Good riddance
 
 

When I went through my pre-op diet I was hungry, irritated, and seriously reconsidering what I was about to do. I decided that if I could not get through what my surgeon wanted me to do before the surgery - exactly- that I was not mentally ready for weight loss surgery. I did it. I never strayed from the guidelines and I lost 12 pounds and felt really good about it the night before my surgery.
 
I know so many people personally that "try to beat the system". They figure out what they can get away with eating. Then they are stunned when the scale stalls or shows pounds gained. This surgery does not control what is brought to your mouth. For only a short time will it control how much of that food goes to your new stomach. This surgery is a great tool to give me a chance to break the cycles of bad habits. I haven't had fast food (pizza, McDonalds, Subway............) since January 6, 2013. Of course I miss it. But I will never give them a dime of my money again. I feel betrayed actually. All the money I have wasted on that garbage food- and in return I get 100 plus pounds of excess weight to carry.
 
I am not going to try to see what I can get away with. I am serious about getting healthy. So the only foods I eat will be what the bariatric surgeon says I can. High protein/ low fat and low carbs.
 
Mentally I have created an atmosphere for success. I go to support groups once a month for weight loss surgery. And I go to overeaters anonymous and I have a behavior therapist to visit 2x month. Matters of weight take place in the mind and this surgery does not take place in your head.