Diana_in_Philly

So - you are having your VSG on my 2 year anniversary . Good luck! I'm now 57. At the time of surgery I had daughters age 13 and 17. Once I had decided, we sat down as a family (my hubby and the girls) and I explained what I was doing and why. While I list my starting weight here as 271, that was my highest known weight. Looking back at photos I'm fairly certain I was over 300 pounds in 2015. I answered questions. Provided internet links. Offered to take them with me to my appointments. My younger daughter was a bit resistant - mostly because I think she was just afraid of me having surgery. So, long story short - I'll be 2 years out very soon. I now weight about 155 pounds . I am a nationally ranked fencer in my age group (as in en garde) and I can deadlift more than I weigh by about 20 pounds. (I started fencing about 10 months post op). What's the wrong message? The message you are sending is you have multiple medical problems and this is a way to fix it. If you needed a joint replaced, would you hide it? If you had to have surgery for an ulcer, would you not tell them? They can handle it. Explain it clearly as doing something for your health so you can enjoy more time with them and doing things with them. The emotional pain - not their problem. That you don't share. The physical - sure. My girls saw me with failing knees, asthma, severe arthritis and more. We'd go to amusement parks and I'd sit on a bench and hold bags. I wasn't going to die and be put in a 3x coffin. Tell them.

One of my goals this year is an unassisted pull up. I'm working toward it but not there yet. I think in the next month I should be able to deadlift over 200 pounds. I can already deadlift more than I weigh. 10 push ups with 25 pounds on my back is one of the next goals. But I'm almost 2 years out and in better shape now than I was in college.

I'm two years out and I still blend protein with sugar free torani syrups and ice and sometimes use Fairlife Skim milk or coconut milk (unsweetened) - so here are some "recipes" to help Chocolate protein powder, caramel sugar free syrup, one scoop PB2 (peanut butter powder) milk and ice - boom - snickers with peanuts Iced Coffee, caramel syrup, chocolate protein powder, ice - protein frappucino Vanilla protein, Fairlife skim milk, 4 ounces pineapple, 1/2 cup spinach, ice - coconut syrup if you have it - pina colada with some fiber/greens!

Repeat after me: I have to have a medical procedure and the doctor says I must be out of work for x time. To your supervisor - I will bring in the medical note as soon as I have it, but wanted to let you know for scheduling purposes. To your coworkers - I'm having a medical procedure and I will be out for x time. Thank you so much for your concern and asking about it, but I don't want to discuss my medical issues with anyone other than my doctor. Assuming you are in the US and you work for an employer of more than 50 people, they cannot force you to say anything else. If co-worker's push, say - did you have sex last night? When they are shocked explain that you feel the same way about your medical issues - they are private and no one else's business. I only had to do that once. It worked.

I'm two years out and I can drink a quart of water during an hour workout, no issues. It's just at the beginning when you have to sip while your stomach is healing. By 6-8 weeks out, you should be able to drink 8 ounces in about half an hour.

So, I'm almost 2 years out and I'm still losing a bit - I could get rid of this last 20 quicker if I got back into good habits like tracking all your food, eating protein first and keeping track of your water. I know part of my last 20 is skin that needs to go, but I don't want plastics until I get my body fat around 28%. (I"m at 31% now.) Also, up your exercise game and don't eat what you burn.

I've been spending a lot of time at consignment shops - I bought a beautiful Lily Pulitzer skirt (retails about $150) for $10 - so no skin off my nose when it doesn't fit any more! I have had to buy some "good" clothes for work but try to keep the pieces basic so this way a change in one size won't kill it, but my blazer is starting to look like it belongs to my husband when I put it on - so I guess a new one is needed for when I need to show up in court.

You cannot spot train - it just doesn't work. Not knowing where you are or your fitness level, consider working with a personal trainer for a session or two to get a program that suits what you can do. I'm down 110-120 pounds and I still have tummy and back fat. That said, I can also hold a low plank for 3 minutes and a side plank for 1.5 minutes. I can deadlift and back squat more than I weigh. But I still have fat hanging over my bra. Unless I have plastics, that's not going to change. I'm working on replacing fat with muscle and now have my body fat at around 31% headed to 28%.

My girls were 16 and 14 when I had my surgery. We have always been honest with them. I told them what the procedure was, why I was having it done (to be healthier) and that I would be in the hospital overnight. One was a worrier, both were ok in the end. Please don't wait until a day or two before surgery. Give them time to absorb. Give them time to ask questions. Answer questions honestly and in terms they can understand. The worst thing you can do is hide it from them. Let them know you are doing this so you can be healthier and spend time with them.

So let's start with the fact that I had my kids at 37 and 41, so there was lots of saggy baggy before I lost more than 100 pounds. (Best estimate now, looking at photos from 2015, is I've lost 140 - I had to have been over 300 pounds in those photos.) I'm almost 2 years out. I noticed different things at different times. My batwings bother me most. I have to say the tummy stuff doesn't make me nuts. The arms does. Then, about four or five months ago, I was in yoga in shorts and looked at my thighs and gasped because of the faces my legs were making back at me. I've had my consult with plastics. My doc says I'm a great candidate. He recommended panni with tummy tuck as one procedure and then hoisting the girls up, sizing them down (I'm a 34F right now with boobs that point to Argentina) and the batwings. He does not recommend doing upper legs because of problems he has seen with healing. Given that he is at a major university medical center, I'll listen to him. I'm not ready emotionally to have the plastics done and I want to get my overall body fat down from its current 31% to about 28% so I have good muscle definition before he does his sculpting. Anyway, it's all likely to wait about 8 years, because my daughters are a high school sophomore and a college sophomore. Tuition has to get paid first.

FWIW - I drink my coffee black. Always have. Partially as a result of that, there was full caffeinated coffee on my tray day after surgery. I had a few sips and was in heaven. My team's approach is if you don't add extra calories to it (e.g. cream and sugar) and you aren't bothered by the acid - have at it but try to keep it to 1 cup a day early on. I'm 23 months out. I drink roughly 32 ounces of black coffee almost every day. Doesn't bother me. Doesn't bother my team. I was told I could experiment with alcohol at 6 months. I waited on the booze, with the exception of sipping some wine at toasts at weddings I had to go to before that point. My rule on alcohol is that I have met all my protein and water goals and I have calories left in my daily allotment, I can have a drink. Again, that has been ok with my team and has worked for me.

I'm 23 months out VSG. (I'll be two years at end of August.) I still have quite a bit of restriction, but I can eat whatever I want, so I have to be careful and follow the rules. However, I've lost 115 pounds from my highest recorded weight and looking at some old picture recently determined I had to have been over 300 pounds in 2015 - so I've lost about 140 pounds. My body fat is at 31%, I'm shooting for28%, so my work's not done. I haven't had my plastics yet because I'm not emotionally ready for that yet. I'm a work in progress and always will but. But I started barely fitting in a size 24 and wear a size 6 today and am nationally ranked as a foil fencer (taken up post surgery) in my age group. Work the plan and the plan works for you.

Be kind to yourself and remember you just had major surgery. It generally takes the body a minimum of six weeks to heal. You are only half way there. Walk. Walk. And walk some more. If you didn't have good muscle tone in your abdomen before surgery, that is going to make the healing harder. In the meantime, be kind to yourself. Yes, your surgery was done through tiny incisions, but it doesn't mean that your body isn't working full time to heal itself.

FWIW - two years out next month. My team let me have regular coffee within weeks of surgery - as soon as my stomach could handle it. Carbonation - I have once or twice a week. Granted I'm almost 2 years out. I had surgery on August 23, 2016 and about a month after surgery was in a location where only carbonated beverages were my options and I felt like I was going to die. Now, I have 1 glass of diet coke with some ice cubes every week or so and I'm fine. I don't find them to be comfortable. Did they stretch my pouch - no. Have I had problems with caffeine - no. I drink about 32 ounces of coffee a day (down from my pre-surgery numbers) - straight up black coffee. It's like blood to me. I'm fine. Talk with your team. My team is ok with both so long as you feel ok.

I have always drunk my coffee black. I drink about 32 ounces of coffee a day. That's to stay functioning. On my post-surgical tray with broth and jello was coffee. Not decaf. Leaded. My team and I had discussed it at length. If I feel the need to have a sweet coffee drink, I go with a sugar free, nonfat vanilla latte - iced or skim. Basically, your only calories there are the skim milk (which is 10 or 16 ounces, roughly depending on iced or hot.) I'm almost 2 years out (23 months) and I pretty much eat and drink what I want, but inadvertently was given a full sugar full fat vanilla latte recently and had dumping issues because I can't handle that amount of sugar.

FWIW, my primary of 20 years told me over and over - try this diet, try that diet, you aren't trying hard enough, you need to lose weight - never once in 20 years mentioned bariatric surgery. When one of the newer doctors at the practice who I was seeing for an asthma attack started telling me all the hazards of being obese, I pulled the nebulizer away from my face and said - don't you think i know I'm fat and it's a problem - because her tone was so judgmental. Never went back to the practice after that. My practice had a bias against obese patients - no one wanted to spend the time to work through the issues which might be causing the over-eating or other problems. They wanted to hand you a sheet about portion control and tell you to exercise (which when you BMI is 48 and you have arthritis in both knees ain't easy.) At my new practice, at my first visit, my doc, after listening to my history and talking to me, and hearing me be so frustrated because I had been on weight watchers and weighing and counting and nothing was happening looked at me and said - have you ever considered bariatric surgery? I never knew it was an option for me because I never thought of myself as "that" fat. Then she told me her VSG story. A week later I was at a seminar by the surgical group who did my surgery less than 6 months later. If I nurse had ever raised the issue with me, I would have been in the practice manager's office before I left advising that she needed to be fired for overstepping. A nurse practitioner - yes. A PA - yes. An MD/DO other person with medical license - yes. An RN - nope. An LPN - nope. On the Physical Therapist issue - I look to my PT to advise me on the best ways to move to avoid pain (I'm bone on bone in both knees). The sports-based PT group I use does not use assistants - my PT works with me around my specific needs for my sport (fencing). I don't need/want their opinion on my weight and I already know that every pound on my body feels like 5-7 pounds to my knees.

When I started the process, I was interested in the lapband, too. I think I was afraid of having part of my stomach removed with VSG. When I spoke with my doctor, they said they do not do lap band anymore as the results are so poor. I'm so pleased that I went with VSG. I'm down almost 120 pounds and look better than I did when I was in college. WHile talking to patients is useful, do speak with a surgical team - they will tell you about their experience and results with the procedure.

I use Fairlife Skim all the time. in fact, I make my shakes in the morning with it - usually 1/2c pineapple, a handful of fresh spinach, a cup of Fairlife Skim, a scoop of protein powder (vanilla) and a handful of ice. Throw it in the Ninja and I've got a breakfast that's under 200 calories and about 35g protein. Holds me til lunch and I'm almost 2 years out.

I started fencing about 8 months post op when my younger daughter quit with 4 private lessons already paid for. I decided to use her private lessons and I loved the sport. So, here I am at 56, fencing people who have been fencing for years, and in some cases, fencing people I could have given birth to - as two of the divisions I fence only have the requirement that you be born 2004 or earlier.

Almost 2 years out, 115 pounds down and still losing. Working on switching up to lose body fat and build muscle - so I'm not super concerned about the scale number right now. Haven't had plastics yet - that will account for another 10-12 pounds. I eat 100-120 grams of protein a day and drink about a gallon of water/unsweetened beverages at day. I work out 6 days a week. I fence competitively. I work with a personal trainer. I have learned to eat carbs again- which I only do when I am fencing multi day tournaments because my body needs the fuel. My body fat is around 31% which rocks for a 56 year old post-menopausal woman. I went from a size 24 to a size 6. Your sleeve is a tool. But the biggest, bestest, most badass tool is you brain. Get you head in the right place and don't accept failure as an option.

Osteo and Rheumatoid Arthritis are two very different animals. I have severe osteoarthritis in both knees - as in I need them replaced, they are bone on bone - no cartilage left. Since my weight loss, my knees feel a ton better - every pound you lose feels like 5-7 pounds on your knees. I'm down about 115 and I now fence 2 days a week, and am in the gym another 4 - I take one rest day a week. I can deadlift more than my own bodyweight and go for 40 minutes on an elliptical without pain. Will I still need my knees replaced - yes. Can I put it off until I'm well into my 60s (I'm 56) - yes. I haven't had to use narcotics for pain since about a month after surgery, where I would use them 3-5 times a week prior to surgery.

Highest recorded weight 271.5 in April 2016 but I was probably about 290 a year earlier. I'm 5'3" tall and was 55 at time of surgery. I was sleeved HW 271.5 April 2016 Surgery weight 246 (8/23/16) Current Weight 156 That would be 115 pounds. I haven't had my plastics done yet, but that will likely be about another 10 pounds. My body fat right now is around 31%. I'm working on getting it to 28%. My team has asked me to speak with the support groups as a success story. I've lost a grown person. Here's a photo of me from the other day (before going to the gym - so hair's a mess and no makeup) standing in one leg of a pair of shorts I used to wear. I went from a size 24 to a size 6.

This is one of my faves. (34 DDD now - was a 42H prior to surgery.) https://www.herroom.com/glamorise-1266-magiclift-front-zipper-high-impact-sports-bra.shtml?utm_source=adv&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=pla&utm_content=Glam01-1266&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_PLZ-9Sz2wIVz1qGCh0e5g7VEAQYASABEgJukPD_BwE

I have not told people about my surgery (my husband and two daughters know). My sister doesn't know and I didn't tell my mother either (she has since died). When people ask how I have lost the weight, I tell them the truth: I eat a very high protein diet and have cut out refined sugars and most carbs I monitor my portion size and log every bite I eat in MFP I exercise - a lot - I fence 5 hours a week and I'm in the gym another 3-5 depending on the week. I eat about 1200 calories a day, a bit more on heavy work out days. It is hard work. It is worth it. I don't discuss my medical issues with people, generally, unless they are obvious (e.g. on crutches or wearing a cast) where you can't avoid the how did you do that.

56 years old. 5'3". Highest recorded weight 271.5 in April 2016. I was probably over 300 during summer of 2015 based on photos but avoided scales. Surgery weight was 246 on August 23, 2016. Today, 20 months post surgery I'm at 157 (so about 150 from highest probable weight). I went from a size 24 to a size 8. Losing weight was always a struggle and worse after having kids and then menopause set in. Now I'm smaller than my two daughters who are 15 and 18 and trying to model good eating and exercise habits for them. My only regret is not having done this 20 years ago.