VSGAnn2014

Weighing daily is not a character flaw. Seriously -- I weigh every morning when I'm home and can weigh on our home scale. I just think of it as a good habit like brushing my teeth.

You're a very smart woman. You'll word your text right. In fact, I think you're already there.

@@Mom26 ... maybe this will be useful to you or not. It's just my story. On August 18, 2014, I had VSG surgery. Easy recovery. Great surgeon. A month later I had gall bladder surgery. Again, easy recovery by my same excellent surgeon. Onward and upward. Three weeks later my fabulous husband was diagnosed with cancer. Cut to the end of the movie -- mercifully, he is now in remission, and I'm now 12 pounds below my original weight loss goal and maintaining easily at 138 pounds. Life is good again for me, because life is possible again after losing 97 pounds. So here's what worked for me during that nightmare. My Fitness Pal is an online app you can use to help you plan and track all your food. It tells you everything about food macronutrients -- how many calories and grams of carb, Protein, fat, sodium, Fiber -- you name it -- are in any food you could imagine. As a control freak who was completely unable to control anything about my husband's cancer, except to support him the very best I could (which still didn't control much), I put all my worrying energy into controlling what I ate. Don't get me wrong -- I didn't starve myself or eat too little. I just focused probably overly much on learning about nutrition and portions. I cannot tell you how much my obsession with that tool distracted me from my fears. Everything you've ever heard about cancer being a family disease was certainly true for me. I had to give up planning for next week or next month. I had to learn to love every day, every hour, every moment. And we loved each other all the time and appreciated each other all the time. Since then we've had some other blows -- this year he lost his oldest son and his father, and I lost my mother. Also, our beloved dog died unexpectedly. But we have come through it all. And we still focus less on next year and more on right now, today. Because that is all any of us has.

My highest weight was 235 lbs. My surgery weight was 216 lbs. I reached my goal weight of 150 lbs. at 8.5 months post-op. During the next 7 months I lost another 12 pounds -- very slowly. I was eating very healthy and quickly got up to an average of 1700 cals/day. So I wasn't trying to diet. But obviously, my metabolism (at least during that time) was higher than I thought it was. I now weigh 138 pounds. I never expected to lose those last 12 pounds. The question is: Will I be able to maintain at 138 pounds? Honestly, I'd be happy to maintain anywhere under 150 pounds.

So far, my biggest feeling of "success" happens when I walk nearly 4 miles on my favorite "Map My Walk" route -- at 3.5 mph. Two years ago I didn't know whether to have WLS or knee replacement surgery first. Now, my docs say, "Forget the knee surgery. You don't need it now." Oh, and I haven't used Aleve or other nsaids daily for the past year and a half. Whoopee! Oh, and I'm wearing size 4 jeans / slacks. BAM! Oh, and I feel 30 years younger. That's a bloody miracle, given that I was agoraphobic and almost immobilized two years ago by my obesity!

It seems to me that any dramatic diet like the 5-day reset diet (above) triggers our bodies to use up the glycogen we've stored in our livers, which would also trigger our bodies to shed the 7-8 pounds of Water needed to store that glycogen. But maybe that doesn't happen to sleeved patients ... ? If you're willing to share, I'd love to hear how those who did this reset diet reacted (in terms of the scale and your appetites) after you went back to your regular weight-loss eating regimens. Thanks in advance.

Well -- are you: * walking at least 3 miles a day? * drinking 64 ounces of Water / liquids? * taking all your supplements and meds - every day and on time? * had your thyroid checked lately? * eating at least 80 grams of Protein daily? * (if you lose best on a low-carb diet -- that is important for some) eating a low carb diet? * planning and tracking your daily food intake using something like My Fitness Pal? * actually measuring the food you eat to make sure you're not eating closer to 1700 cals/day? If not, then do all that, give it a month and see how that goes. If so, then tell your NUT that her/his program really isn't working and it's time for Plan B.

Keep working at this like you're doing -- on all fronts like you are. You are doing good. Progress (like weight loss) doesn't happen in a straight line. And it only stops when we stop. Obviously, you're not remotely close to stopping!

@@bellabloom ... I think that's a GREAT question. It's so great, I think it deserves its own thread. Would you be willing to start one?

I'm sure the correlates of WLS success are many. But however WLS patients learn about what's required for success, surely being sufficiently educated about what to eat and drink and how much and when is critical. Patients can learn all this online or in group classes or through one-on-one counseling or by studying their written materials. I sometimes see people here who are ignorant of how they're supposed to eat / drink / exercise / take supplements after WLS. And yes, I do know that almost anyone who can pay for WLS can get it. But jeez Louise! Sadly, I have not seen any studies that identify patients' post-op behavior changes, intellectual capabilities, psychological attributes and histories, pre-op physical and medical histories, quality of their support from family, peers, and bariatric centers, or other variables correlated with their degree of short- and long-term WLS success.

Now, those are two guys I truly admire! I bet they're billionaires now.

Too bad the balloon patients haven't been back. Fascinating to learn about.

How not to graze ... 1. Keep all food inside cabinets and never visible on kitchen bars, tables, etc. (Out of sight, out of mind.) 2. Exercise seriously every day -- this reduces your stress, your anxiety, and your boredom. For most people, this means walking at least 3 miles a day. You don't have to do it all in one full swoop. Break it up a mile at a time. Winter's here, which may bring terrible weather to your area. So if you don't have a treadmill at home, consider getting one. The exercise alone will motivate you not to replace all the calories you burned up by nibbling. Consider putting the treadmill in the room where you watch TV. 3. Find something to occupy your hands and mind. For women AND men this may be knitting, crocheting, and adult coloring books (don't laugh!). 4. Doing housework during TV commercials keeps me out of the kitchen -- laundry, vacuuming, making beds, cleaning closets, hanging up clothes, folding towels, straightening clutter, ironing, polishing shoes. You'd be surprised how much housework you can get done two or three minutes at a time.

@@Bndtoslv ... you say you "don't know the specifics about phentermine." I have taken it before. It's a pretty awful drug. You can learn about it here: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/phentermine-side-effects.html

LOL! You're fine. But you might spend a few moments contemplating how you could be a little kinder to yourself in the future when you turn out not to be perfect. That sounded like a lot of self-hate you turned on yourself over a couple bites of dressing. We don't do ourselves any favors when we beat the s**t out of ourselves. Because if perfection is our goal, we are all S.O.L.

Forgive yourself. And learn from that experience. That's what everyone who succeeds does.

Damn! That is one of the BEST one-year surgiversary posts I've ever read. Thank you for every word. You are doing so great. And I think you're going to be surprised at how you continue to feel better with every additional pound you lose. I also really appreciated how you're increasingly able to hold your tongue about all kinds of things. Some good words there for me -- thank you. FYI, I never, ever thought I'd get to the healthy weight I am now. And the biggest surprise was that the last 10 pounds I lost made the biggest difference in how much better my knees feel and how far / fast I can now walk.

I've observed / learned over a lifetime of struggling with my own weight that when I haven't stocked the right foods in the house / purse / car / wherever and PLANNED what to eat that will be good for me, I'm much more susceptible to buying and eating whatever the hell is around and readily available. My shrink calls this acting impulsively. And he doesn't mean it in a good way. Good news is that we're not condemned to behaving impulsively. All we have to do is PLAN. You have probably heard that old saying: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." That certainly applies to me.

The previous posts by @@LipstickLady and me above demonstrate that there are parts of WLS life that you just have to figure out for yourself. Others may try to tell you that you will experience exactly what they experienced. But it ain't necessarily so.

Boy oh boy ... diet sodas do NOT work for me at all. And believe me, I've tried. It's not the carbonation that bothers me (the bubbles dissipate if you let the soda go flat). However, it's the acidic content of the sodas that just kills my stomach. Not gonna go there again. Last time it took my stomach a week to recover. Ugh.

Good for you, @@Peacefulfish Joe .... Information helps. Counseling may be necessary, too. Sounds like maybe there are some things she needs to work through with you. But you get to make the decisions about your health. That part is unnegotiable.

Getting healthy and losing weight after WLS is a long-term game that requires patience. If you aren't able to commit to eating nutritious foods in the right amounts your body needs to heal from surgery, to lose weight, and to become healthier (because hardly any of us were in very good shape to begin with), you're probably not going to like the overall results you get. And you're not going to feel fantastic just a few weeks post-op. It takes a while to recover from surgery. You will recover and regain your energy by eating healthy food that nourishes your body. IMHO, taking diet pills to lose weight and "get your energy back" after WLS is sort of like using methamphetamine to recover from the blues of going through alcohol withdrawal. Yeah, it'll pep you up but it won't heal you at all. I realize that analogy may not be perfect, so feel free to improve upon it.

@@goingtoskinny soon said: ... I must admit I'm not tracking calories. I also believe I'm not getting enough fluids or Protein. I am 4 weeks out and only have lost 25lbs. I was given the ok to eat regular food. Nothing really even looks appealing and then why I try to eat, its only a few bites and I feel like its either stuck or I'm so full. I'm sick. . . . I have only been able to keep 100 calorie cottage cheese fruit cups down or instant breakfast. At first I was really happy with the surgery and now lots of regret. Not eating and having lost not much weight, its really starting to bum me out You're "4 weeks out and only have lost 25 lbs." And you started at 219 pounds, which is a light starting weight for WLS. Where in the world did you get the idea that losing 25 pounds in 4 weeks was "having not lost much weight"? You have lost an incredible amount of weight! Your expectations of what's a normal weight loss rate are completely unrealistic. FYI, I lost 10.4 pounds my first month and was 216 pounds on the day of surgery. I reached my weight loss goal 8.5 months later. Since then I've lost another 12 pounds and am steadily maintaining at 138 pounds 15+ months post-op. You're doing great in terms of weight loss. Maybe even a little "too great." However, if you're not hitting your protein and Water targets, you need to do what it takes to make that happen. Not enough water will make you dizzy (you don't want to be fainting / falling) and make you feel completely exhausted all the time. Eventually, too little water could retard your weight loss and even harm your kidneys. Not enough protein will make you lose more muscle mass and less fat. Both of those shortages could cause you health problems.

No, thanks.

This is an oldie-but-goldie thread. Really worth reading for inspiration. My recent non-scale victories (NSVs) include mostly clothing victories. I now wear (mostly): * Size 4s in jeans and slacks. It's just freaky! * Size smalls in jackets, coats and other random pieces Occasionally, the size that fits me best is Petite Small or even a size 2. I cannot fathom how that works, since I'm 5'5" and weigh 138 pounds. Boy, bodies are weird. But I'm a big fat sucker for single digit sizes.