JamieLogical

I was going to say, that if you have GERD, bypass or mini-bypass would be a better option. VSG has been known to cause GERD or increase the severity of GERD in people who already have it. Also, if you have that much damage to your esophagus from GERD, may surgeons wouldn't perform VSG on you.

When I have tracked my calories in the past (not tracking right now as I am maintaining fine without tracking), I literally weighed every ingredient in my home cooked meals, plugged them into a recipe calorie calculator, weighed the finished product, and weighed how much food I actually ate in order to get the correct percentage. I am SUPER anal when I track calories, which is exactly why I don't track them when I don't have to. I would waste half my life weighing, measuring, calculating, and entering!

Yeah, I really can't complain. Definitely lucked out when I stumbled across him!

Complications since my surgery have been few and far between. I'm now almost 22 months post-op. I am in the process of divorcing my husband and have begun some casual dating. It's already been interesting navigating dating. I hadn't "dated" in probably close to 15 years... I am no longer in my 20's (I'm 37)... I am now much thinner and more attractive than I ever was in my previous dating periods... and I have my surgery preventing me from your normal kinds of dinner dates. So last night I was on a date. I hadn't told my date about my surgery, he just knows I eat Protein first and don't eat much at one time. So we were scheduled to go play Lasertron (fancy laser tag) and we wanted to grab some dinner ahead of time. We went to a restaurant he recommended, which I'd never been to before. I had half a burger without the bun and a few tatter tots. Not really any more than I typically eat at a "large" meal these days. But I must have eaten too fast or not chewed well enough or something, because I was feeling uncomfortably full after. It's a feeling I rarely encounter, as I am an "old pro" at this whole sleeve thing now, right? We went to Lasertron. I was still feeling full, but not too bad. I was able to run around and shoot children with the best of them! It was a ton of fun, but I did get very hot and sweaty. Afterward I bought some G2 from the little cafe there to re-hydrate and two sips in I was on the edge of throwing up. There was just no room in there for it to even get down my esophagus. I rushed to the bathroom where I experienced foamies for just the second time since my sleeve. Having experienced this once before (at Thanksgiving), I knew that it meant something was "stuck" and I was going to continue to be miserable until I actually vomited and dislodged whatever was stuck. Unfortunately, my attempts at vomiting just brought up the G2 and lots of mucus. So after the second round of attempted vomiting, I had to tell my date I was not feeling well and needed to go home. Of course, "home" was his house, because we'd only brought my car to dinner and Lasertron. At his house I proceeded to nearly vomit a bunch more times. He sat with me on the bathroom floor. Then he got me a bucket so I could lie down on the couch. FINALLY I actually threw up and felt a million times better. But completely humiliated by the whole thing. He was amazingly great about the whole thing. Even gave me a brand new toothbrush to use after the whole ordeal. I guess I have to marry this guy now, right? For being so great through that. And he still wants to keep dating me! I still didn't tell him about my surgery though.....

My fatigue lasted until I got to soft foods. Once I did that, I was able to increase my calories enough to feel vaguely functional, plus I was through the bulk of the healing.

I hope you are right, but I have seen plenty of anecdotal evidence to the contrary on this site. The idea that there are people eating 1000 calories a day in maintenance is mind boggling to me. But, unless they are lying to us or themselves, there seem to be a lot of people in that boat. I was a "slow" loser, ate about 1400 calories a day through most of my weight loss phase, exercised intensely, and actually gained 7 pounds of muscle by the time I reached goal. Now, in maintenance, I can easily eat 1900-2000 calories a day and not gain. On the days I run, I eat more like 2400-2600 calories. I can't help but think that by losing more slowly, not drastically restricting my calories, and maintaining/building muscle, I was able to keep my metabolism normal/high. When I see people posting that they are gaining or have to restrict themselves to 900 or 1000 calories a day to not gain in maintenance, their stories also usually include having lost very quickly and not done much exercise. This is all anecdotal and not scientific, but I have been on these forums for about 2.5 years and read hundreds and hundreds of posts, and this is the trend I have observed. As for "starvation" mode, I do think it is a contributing factor for stalls. Especially in people who are doing a lot of exercise and not eating enough calories to sustain that level of activity. They are essentially adopting a form of anorexia, called "anorexia athletica" where they are creating a dangerously high calorie deficit through exercise.

So yeah... "hunger" for me now is "hanger". I turn into a total bit** when I have gone 3-4 hours without eating. I warned my new boyfriend about it, but he was totally unprepared for the reality when it actually happened. Any time I'm out with my mom all day, she carries Snacks for me in her purse and forces them on me at the first sign of hanger.

It sounds like you have given it a lot of thought and reached the conclusion that gives you the most peace of mind right now. That is the smart thing to do! You should make this choice for yourself and no one else. If surgery isn't right for you then you definitely shouldn't do it. It takes an enormous amount of dedication and commitment to be successful with WLS. If you can't commit to it fully, then you are right to not pursue it.

@@Babbs Yeah, I think there has definitely been some miscommunication in this thread, which probably hasn't helped the poor OP who had already received conflicting info. Hopefully the gist has managed to come across. There are exceptions to every rule and everyone has to find their own path. But, in general, for the highest chances of success: Drink your Water (at least 64 oz. a day) Get your Protein in (85-100 grams per day ideally) Take your Vitamins Keep carbs low (hopefully will come naturally from meeting protein goals) Eat enough calories to fuel your activity level (too few and you slow your metabolism) Stay active (whatever that means for you, get up and move your body regularly) Figure out what works for you! (our bodies are as unique as finger prints and while there are general guidelines to follow, only you can figure out what will work for you long term!)

Sounds like you are steadily progressing towards your surgery! The wait can be a pain, but you are making improvements that will continue to help you post-op as well. So just keep your eye on the prize!

Awesome to hear you've "rebooted" your weight loss. It sounds like you have already been doing a good job of keeping active and enjoying life. But sometimes it is good to get in a little routine with food and exercise to course correct when needed. Glad to have you back!

HAHAHAHAHA!! You realize you're disagreeing with a VERY successful WLS person who has lost beyond their excess weight AND has maintained it AND is running marathons, right? And losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise, know it all. I've seen people who have had surgery lose all their weight with no exercise at all. How do you explain that, professor? I think exercise is critical to weight loss and maintenance, so this person wasn't even disagreeing with me, just misinterpreting my posts I think? I just ran a full marathon on the 18th. Clearly I'm a big proponent of physical fitness! Nutrition is definitely where it's at for weight loss, because it's the best way to create a significant caloric deficit. But exercise is critical for keeping your metabolism up, preventing muscle loss, and I HIGHLY recommend it in maintenance for keeping your weight in check. And exercise can come in MANY forms. I like running. Some people like classes. Some people like fitness DVDs. Some people like team sports. Everyone needs to figure out what they enjoy, what they can keep up with, and what motivates them.

@ Hi there! Sounds like things are going really well in your life. What brings you back to the forums? How have you done with your weight loss and maintenance?

Well, we've been dating for over three months now and he knows about the surgery and everything. I told him soon after the Lasertron/foamies incident. Now every time we go to play Lasertron, we joke about it. Fortunately, I haven't had any foamies or thrown up again since then! However, I did run a marathon last weekend (the 18th) and he had to help me shower after, because I was helpless as a newborn. And he took care of me and got me food and everything after. Plus, I got HORRIBLY sunburned during the race and he helped with aloe and lotion and burn cream in the days after and put up with the peeling skin this past weekend. He's pretty great! I'm probably going to keep him.

@@thatmeanone Another one of my tidbits of wisdom that served me well in my weight loss phase is this. People are in a rush to lose weight quickly post-sleeve, because they have spent a lifetime dieting. But unlike a "diet", you will never be DONE with your sleeve. There is no need to sprint to the finish so you can return to your "normal" life. I promise you, no matter how frustrated you are with your "slow" loss in the moment, you will NOT be looking back two years from now thinking "if only I'd reached goal one month sooner". You will be enjoying your new active and healthy life, maintaining your goal weight and never looking back at all!

I definitely recommend an aisle seat, especially for the flight home, posy-op. You will want to get up and walk a little as often as possible on the flight.

A 5k doesn't really require any glycogen reserves. I would usually just eat one carb-heavy item the morning of (at least an hour before the race). I like Clif bars or multi-grain toast with Peanut Butter for my pre-run carbs. Also, you do want to try to get a good amount of Water in before the race. Bring a water bottle with you to the start and drink it right up until the start and then hand it over to whoever came to cheer you on to hang onto during the race. Just make sure you are doing little sips, instead of huge gulps right before the start. Don't want to have it all sloshing around!

@@Hadenough2 I eat a fair amount of sausage. Now I will eat pork sausage in maintenance, but in my weight loss phase I ate turkey, chicken, or poultry sausage.

I don't advocate "cheating" at all on the pre-op diet, but if you have to do it, do it with protein. The whole purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver by depleting your glycogen stores. Depleting your glycogen stores fully will force you into a state of ketosis (where your body must burn fat for energy). The transition into ketosis sucks. You will have headaches, light headedness, fatigue, etc. As soon as you re-introduce carbs, your body leaves ketosis and then you have to go through the transition ALL OVER AGAIN. It's miserable enough the first time. Definitely no fun going through it a second time. So, the moral of the story is, no bagels!

@@BetterOffRed Glad to hear you are doing well. It's awesome you get to eat so much real food on your pre-op. That has got to make it much easier! However, you will still experience the transition into ketosis, which isn't much fun. If you start getting headaches and feeling kind of run down, don't worry. That should only last a couple of days.

Stay off the scale. That is the absolute BEST advice you can receive in the first month or two post-op. This period should be about healing, recovering, getting your protein and water in, taking your vitamins, walking as much as possible, and advancing through your food stages appropriately. Your body will need time to adjust and adapt to all of the trauma and change it has experienced. It may react by retaining water, clinging to every calorie, dropping weight rapidly, or any other combination of things. There is no way to predict or control how your body will react in these early weeks. All you CAN control is that you stick to your plan and follow all of your instructions to the letter.

You'll be lucky to get rid of the surgical bra at only 3 weeks out. I had to wear mine 24/7 for 8 weeks! It was the worst. Every woman knows that feeling where you can't wait to take your bra off after having worn it for like 16 hours? Well I had that feeling every second of ever day for weeks and weeks! But it was all worth it in the end and it will be for you too!

Please please please do NOT make the mistake of comparing yourself to others. It is nothing but a recipe for misery and disaster. There is no such thing as "on track" with weight loss at only one month out. You have spent weeks healing and adapting. You may still have internal swelling. You may have experienced the Dreaded Week 3 Stall. In the first month, "on track" is getting all your Water and Protein in, taking your Vitamins, sticking to your food phases, getting up and WALKING as much as possible, and allowing yourself to heal. It has NOTHING to do with the scale right now.

There is certainly no way for him to tell which shakes you actually ingest. If they require you to buy the Bariatric Advantage shakes, then I suppose you can't avoid losing the money. But so long as you drink nutritionally comparable shakes, there is no way your surgeon would ever know whether or not you actually drank the Bariatric Advantage shakes.

Well, I will just reiterate that you really need to up your Water and calories then. With that level of activity, you are getting nowhere near enough water and are likely getting too few calories. Aim for calorie-dense protein sources like cheese and nuts. If you are going to do carbs, have them 30-45 minutes before your cardio workouts. They can help fuel your cardio and you will burn them off before they get stored as glycogen.