travel_lightly

Thank you to everyone on this forum. Without it I don't think I would have had the courage to start this journey. Sometime over the holidays I hit my goal weight of 175. Thats down from 245 at my heaviest and 228 day of surgery. I haven't been on this forum for quite some time, but I just had a look at my before pics. Holy cow. I cant believe I was that person. I feel 100% more confident and better about myself. I have lost 80 lbs and for the first time since middle school have been in a normal weight BMI zone. I went from size 38-40 jeans to 29-30. XL shirts to Medium. This is an incredible tool and I wish I could go back and give everyone who struggles with weight this gift. It has given me my life back and allowed me to blossom into a person that has been buried under extra weight for so long. Again, many thanks to all of you for support and guidance on this journey!

At this point I would consider my surgery a success. Heaviest = 245 lbs Day of Surgery = 228 lbs Now = 174 lbs Wow. it seems like a lifetime ago I was morbidly obese with a BMI of over 36. Now I am officially at a "normal" weight and under 25 BMI. I think I still have 10 lbs more to go, but I am a whole new person. A few interesting notes: Its clear how bad my posture became from the weight. This is still not good, and I would like to address it. Dont know how, but my posture is still one of an obese person. I am just less hungry. I dont make good decisions all the time, but I clearly eat far less. It seems like Protein drinks in the morning is the biggest help to keeping hunger down and losing weight. I find myself making better choices with food, and dont crave junk food in the same way I used to I don't think my sleep apnea is cured, but I have a very wide neck and am likely physiologically predestined to keep my apnea. Overall I cant recommend this surgery enough. It is a real solution. Like everyone else I wondered if this was going to work for me. I made mistakes after my surgery, and still am not perfect, but I have no doubt in my mind this is a permanent change. Thank you to everyone on this board who contributed and inspired me to take this step and make this change!

So I am 6.5 weeks out from surgery. 8.5 weeks ago I weighed 245 and felt stressed out and terrible. 6.5 weeks ago I weighed 228 and the 24 hours after surgery was absolutely terrible Today I feel great. I am doing so well right now and I feel in control of my weight and eating more than I ever have. I did my old weightlifting routine for the first time in over a year today. My doctor told me yesterday I was good to begin again. I am doing so well I lowered my goal weight to 165 lbs because I dont know how I would eat enough to stop losing weight. food volume has been a problem for me since I was in 7th grade and I have gone through periods of extreme fitness and extreme obesity. I don't think I will have that yo-yo again and am excited to get into bodybuilding. Something I would have never dreamed of even 8 weeks ago. So far this is one of the best decisions of my life, and it only seems to get better. I still have some psychological issues with food I need to deal with, but I feel confident I have the tools to do that now. I'm far from perfect, but finally feel like one of those people who is not always ashamed of their body and uncomfortable around people. I wish I had all clothes I threw away 3 years ago back because my pants wont stay up anymore!

I had my vsg on Friday last week so I am 6 days post op. I weighed in at 218 this morning. Highest weight was 245 around 30 days ago. 228 day of surgery. I'm clearly getting lighter, but I have just been so tired of the Protein shakes and lethargy. I took only 3 days after my surgery including the weekend. Until today I have been losing a lot of weight and eating under 500 calories. Today I probably ate 1500. I'm feeling very full but I ended up eating some of the Indian food at my office today (only liquid and pureed consistency), and last night had beef broth and Campbell's cheddar cheese Soup. For dinner tonight I had cheddar broccoli soup, and it had bigger chucks of broccoli. I chewed very well though. I have seen others on this forum with Dr approved plans to eat soft foods this early, but that was not on my plan. I have been very aware of my food addiction, and in the la 24 hours have succumbed to it. I doubt I will gain weight from what I did and I doubt it's going to hurt my stomach, but I still feel guilty. There is no way for me to gain weight right now because my sleeve is so small. I'm scared because I have been eating even after feeling full. Full is far less volume now, but that compulsion is still there. I had one day pre-op that I pretty much broke the liquid diet like crazy and ate a ton. Today was the post op version. I need some advice on how to react to my behavior in a healthy way and what to do next? Go back to Protein Shakes and just move on as this was just a bad day after a string of good ones? Find and embrace a food therapist? Did anyone else overdo it early on and recover and get back into the right mindset? Advice needed.

+1 for The Center for Weight Loss at Cedars Sinai Hospital. I had Dr. Cunneen and I couldn't have better things to say. If I could go back in time in order to be less nervous about 'not doing it right' I would do that.

Thanks all. I want to report back that I am doing much, much better now, and no longer scared. My diet isnt perfect, but I am steadily losing weight. I'm down 45 lbs from 2 months ago, and 29 lbs from day of surgery. I don't think I am anywhere close to slowing down. Thanks for your help and guidance in the early days.

Wow. I am now around 1 month post op and at 208.1. heaviest was 245 around 6 weeks ago. 228 day of surgery. This has really been an incredible journey so far. Mostly I am just more tired than normal. I am looking forward to that part being better. First day was awful, and it got better after that.

I have my surgery day. About to start my pre-op diet. I'm a little afraid I wont be ready to stop stress eating

I have a pre-op BMI of 35 but I have sleep apnea. I was talking to my doc and he suggested I take VSG seriously. After researching I realized I was a great candidate. I love to workout and have gone through long stretches of eating well or fasting. No matter what though I cant keep losing, or keep it off. I have read that low BMI patients actually do better In fact I seem to meet the profile of someone who should do very well. Low BMI, male, mid thirties, like to exercise. Would really like to find a buddy in a similar place. I am most afraid of backsliding in the long term and following my post-op diet.

Any takers. I just got back from the hospital today. Feeling bloated but great.

So does it go away? After a few years of being sleeved I imagine it is still there but you cant act on it right?

I had a dinner for work that another person arranged. I'm on my liquid diet, and I ended up eating a small dinner - including bread. That wasn't part of the plan and today was a weight in a 7.5 pounds below where I was 4 days ago. I'm sure thats mostly Water, but still I am discouraged I may have set myself back.

So I am scheduled for June 12 for my Surgery. I am on day 3 of my liquid diet. My pre-op nurse told me no caffeine 2 days before the surgery and basically a month after. Like many American's I drink coffee daily. Maybe 2 servings a day only in the morning. If I don't have my coffee I become irritable, get terrible headaches, and all the other classic symptoms of withdrawal. I know I wont be able to take ibuprofen (because of its blood thinning effects) to help with the headaches. I dont need the coffee, but the caffeine withdrawal plus surgery may be overwhelming. Any suggestions on how to deal with this? Advice?

Sam boat here as well. I am now on my pre-op liquid diet. I completely overdid it for the last 3 months. It was hard the first day to be on the liquid diet, and still sort of hard. I have to travel a lot so I ate a few crackers I probably shouldn't have. Everyone keeps saying take it one day at a time, and that seems like really good advice.

I have a BMI of 35, in fact since my liquid diet I dropped under it. I was approved on my first attempt. I have Blue Shield CA. Here is a tip. When they are measuring your height, slough a little and do it at the end of the day. People shrink 2-3 inches over the course of the day and inches matter quite a bit to your BMI. I was also relentless with my doctors office about following up, over and over. I think they got the impression I was serious. I also came to all my appointments with questions and took it very seriously. Not sure if those things helped, but dont be afraid to push your insurance. If you meet the qualifications, this must be covered under Obamacare, as far as I understand. Comorbidities automatically reduce you to 35 BMI. Good luck!