OutsideMatchInside

I mean at a year I basically eat normally. Just normal portions. The further you get from surgery the more you can eat. I worried that I would always be weird and stand out but I go out and eat and go on dates and no one is the wiser. I eat like a lady. And people that are around me extended periods of time realize I eat all day (since I eat small amounts) and it doesn't raise any red flags. So just give it time.

10 to 12 ounces of what? At a year I can only have 4 ounces of dense Protein. I can eat endless amounts of things with high liquid contents. Like I could have 16 ounces of yogurt if I didn't think it was disgusting. Are you eating 10 to ounces of dense protein or something else? If you eat things that don't trigger restriction. You won't feel restriction...

You are never going to lose weight if you don't up your calories. I lost the most weight in the 900 to 1000 calorie a day range.

Way of eating, I eat Keto

Yeah most people who talk about stretching their sleeve are eating crackers and other sliders. If you are eating dense Protein you are always going to feel that restriction because dense protein can't make it through that valve at the bottom of your stomach like liquids and sliders. You almost never hear anyone who eats steak complaining about a stretched sleeve. Also if all these people in your program really have stretch sleeves then the Doctor doing the surgery is doing it wrong. Almost all of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed with the sleeve. We are left with the dense more muscle ish part of the stomach. People who have RNY can stretch their pouch but that is their problem, not a sleevers issue.

I gain 3lbs with every period. And guess what, for the past year I have had 2 periods a month. So I gain water weight them drop it. When I was over 300lbs gaining weight with my period was nothing and I also never weighed myself before like I do now. Now I know that my weight fluctuates with my period and bowel movements. I don't stress about my weight. Also at 4 weeks this is normal. If you can't get used to the idea that your weight fluctuates then stop weighing yourself. Intellectually, I knew that weight flucuated. It took me weighing myself almost daily for the past 16 months to emotionally accept it.

The clothes that last the longest through weight loss are skirts and dresses. If I had it to do all over I would never or rarely buy any pants. Dresses and belts so you can cinch them later are great options. Also try to go for buying just a few pieces at a time. It will seem like you are always buying but it is more cost effective than buying a lot of clothes at one time only to wear them 2 to 3 weeks. Also the smaller you get, the faster the sizes change. Buy just what you need for a 2 to 3 week period for the first year.

Everyone is different. I was huge and my loss at 5 to 6 weeks was about the same as yours and I thought it was slow ish, silly me. I lost the fastest months 3 to 7. This was because I could eat enough to be active. After 6 to 9 months I credit all my weight loss to my chosen WOE more than the sleeve.

@@Katnec826 shapewear, the good stuff, firm control and spend some $$ on it. Shapewear has probably been my biggest expense so far.

@@LittleBill you can't stretch your sleeve with liquids. If you have a properly formed sleeve it is basically impossible to stretch it at all. If you have a live swallow test, you can see the valve at the bottom of your stomach opening. Liquids pass through instantly. It is more like sand through an hourglass. But the valve at the bottom of your stomach opens instantly. What people do is desensitize themselves to the pain/sensation of being full. Also most people confuse the restriction you have when your stomach is healing the first 6 months with restriction. That restriction is not real restriction, it is healing. When you have more capacity 6 months post open that isn't a stretched sleeve that is a healed sleeve. It seems like a lot of doctors don't explain this. It has been explained here before but I am posting it again because people keep spreading the same misinformation about sleeve stretching which people with bad eating habits like to use as a crutch to justify their terrible choices.

I lost 8lbs on my liquid diet. I was so weak and tired I could barely move. I think the pre-op liquid diets are pointless and waste but that is really another topic. Everyone doesn't lose a ton on the pre-op diet and if they could't they couldn't need surgery.

@@Ready824 At about a year I was able to guzzle Water almost as fast as I could pre-op. Once you heal at 6 months you will be able to drink more, and faster. Then at one year for me a real switch flipped and I can drink pretty quickly. It doesn't last. It even gets better at 3 months. I guzzled down 8 ounces rapidly just a few minutes ago.

@@computercat That biggest loser study is pretty bad just because of the way they lost weight, they ruined their metabolisms. I have lost 172 pounds in less than 17 months and I still have a normal to high functioning metabolism. If you eat normally and are active you can lose weight and not ruin your metabolism and have a normalish set point.

@@LittleBill Okay we believe you!

I thought I had big wrists. 172 pounds later I have small dainty little wrists. I never thought I had small wrists because my wrists never seemed fat or very meaty. When you lose a massive amount or weight it comes from everywhere, even the unexpected places. I didn't have fat meaty feet either, but I am down 2 shoe sizes and no longer wear wides. When your BMI gets under 35, you can really see what you frame is more like.

@@Anna Nim I honestly wish I would had surgery when my child was younger. I would have been a much better parent, because I would have been a more active and happier parent. I say go for it. I will admit I chose the sleeve over RNY because I watched someone have complications (not WLS related) with their intestines and the way they suffered sealed it for me that I never wanted anyone to touch my intestines. The sleeve had the least risk in my opinion which is why I chose it. I was also a fairly health fat person, but when my health started to tank, it tanked fast and terrible. I'm not even sure about the long term damage. I feel like losing weight I have healed it but maybe not. I also had arthritis in one knee. Guess what since I lost weight, it never hurts anymore. I used to be so aware of that knee, all the time. It hurt all the time, it made noises, it ached. I forget it even exists now, no pain. I can kneel at church with ease.

@@krr343 Thanks! Honestly I'm not sure if I really want to lose more weight, but I am going to keep losing so I can have more bounce room.

You can't gain 3 real pounds of fat in a couple days. If you have been on a low carb diet and ate a lot of carbs, then your liver has increased in size and that is the gain. You can cut all carbs and drop that weight in a couple days.

The first night I wanted my Nana but other than. That, no, not ever. I did the work pretty surgery to be mentally prepared. I had already give all the bad things up years before the hard way, with no help. Surgery gave me the support to make the rest easy.

I was approved with BCBS IL 4 days after being submitted. Your BMI is high enough that if you have a surgeons office that knows how to submit. They can have you approved in a week or less.

Drinking more and eating more helps me.

You can rant all you want but I feel like your rant is poorly timed and unsympathetic to other people. I'm a strong person. I lost my 170 pounds with basically no support except a few Internet friends. Still I understand that other people have more issues. At a time when people a struggling during the holidays you are just kicking them while they are down but if it makes you feel better, enjoy.

Enjoy it. I had a period every 2 weeks for a year

Well now people talk about how big my boobs are and how small my waist is. Or other things about my body. And these are strangers that have no idea how large I used to be. Losing weight is trading one set of problems for a different set of problems. If you stand out to people like I do, you always will, and they will always find something to say. Some people just attract attention. I do, I don't care what people think anymore though. They are going to talk no matter what, might as well give them something good to talk about.

I live alone. Work alone. And I live in area where I know no one. Honestly I feel like it is easier to do with no support because you don't have to deal with other people and their issues or attitudes about you having surgery. You don't need support because really from here on out it is you making choices for you and you have to work through your issues so you are in a place you can always make the right choice.