Dairymary

My biggest relief is that I am able to be a productive member of society..... I can play an active role in raising my grandchildren. I can pull my own weight (pun intended) on the farm. My marriage is less strained because we are once again a team, and I am no longer concerned with being a burden on my family and health care system because of obesity related illnesses and physical limitations.

Measure everything and stick to eating ON PLAN. Your choices will determine your success or failure, not your sleeve size. If you are going to order things like McGriddles, eat the egg and sausage and throw out the rest. And reaching fullness should never be your goal or reason to stop eating. I haven't been full in years and really have no idea if I could eat a whole mcGriddle because I've never tried. Same goes for a three egg omelet. It's something I would never even put on my plate. You need to reprioritize the importance of food to that of nutrition, not quantity and emotional satisfaction.

I had a problem with the acidity upsetting my stomach for several months. I drank herbal tea during that time which satisfied my "hot cuppa joe" morning routine. I was gradually able to tolerate coffee and now I drink 40 oz (2 large travel mugs ) pretty much every day. caf in the AM and decaf in the PM or it keeps me up at night.

Whatever you did during your "honeymoon" year is basically what you have to continue to do for the rest of your life. Deviating from what made you successful in the first place is like falling off the wagon with every other failed diet you undertook prior to WLS. If you are struggling to comply then I would strongly suggest seeking professional therapy of counseling. A lifetime of maintenance is all about changing your relationship with food to one of nutritional value, not comfort or emotional satisfaction. There are ways to deal with true, physical hunger that don't cause regain. It's the head hunger that blows it for us.

It was at least 4 years postop before I stopped hearing "You're so thin....When are you going to stop losing?" I had actually reached my low weight at 18 months (160 pounds down) so the joke was on them. I guess they just couldn't get the image of "Fat Mary" out of their heads.

Then I'd leave worthless, non nutritive carbs like crackers off the menu until you are at goal. Eating stuff like that is a bad habit to get into so soon post op. Stick with the tuna, other proteins and veggies for now. Especially considering you seem to have a fairly large sleeve capacity. It was probably 3-4 months before I could have eaten 3oz of anything solid.

I don't know how much I CAN eat, I just know how much I do eat in order to maintain my loss. The latter is much less than the former. I also know from years of watching postop WLS patients come and go from my support group that those that let their surgeries dictate their portions never reached goal or always regained. And this is true for all surgery types. It's the mental work that determines long term success. In general, those that had revision surgery were not any more successful the second time around than the first unless they put the time and effort in with a therapist. The best thing you can do, going into another surgery is work with a mental health professional to figure out 1) why and how you became obese in the first place....those answers will help you change what needs to change. 2) figure out why your pouch stretched and don't repeat those things with the sleeve. There is much debate whether or not a sleeve stretches, but even the smallest sleeve can be made useless with poor food choices, grazing, etc. The fact you are looking for an excuse to be able to eat larger portions isn't exactly a good starting point.

Try getting run over by a tractor. That's what happened to me about 3 years postop. Broken pelvis and femur, too much bruising to even list. Too much pain to even think about. Not to mention the depression from feeling useless and dependant in others. I was in the hospital for weeks and then a wheelchair and Walker at home for a couple months. I gained 15 pounds eating hospital food but didn't realize it because of all the swelling. As soon as I figured out what was happening, I refused all the carbs the hospital was serving and had my hubby smuggle in custom meals of straight Protein and veggies. I even spent a couple weeks on Protein shakes and finally got rid of the regain. What I ate was one of the few things I felt I had control over during that time. I see you are preop, so I'm not sure what motivates you, but for me, at 3 years postop and enjoying being a normal size person was what did it for me. There was NO WAY I was going to buy the next size up jeans, so I just did whatever it took to get back down to my normal size. I guess you need to get it straight in your head why you are doing what you are doing and make it happen. don't let a silly little motorcycle accident get in your way

I was on liquids for over a month. A very small sacrifice and nothing compared to how hard maintenance can be.

I never disobeyed my surgeons instructions one little bit pre or post op. The risk of complications just wasn't worth it. And I figured if I couldnt suck it up and do it "right" for just a few months, I had no business having a surgery and committing to a new way of eating for the rest of my life. Please try to be more careful with your choices. Even when you are totally healed. Rationalizing poor choices is what leads to regain. A bite of chicken today (because I don't like Protein shakes), a box of Oreos tomorrow (because I am depressed)

Nothing truer was ever spoken (or typed). I am almost 6 years out and Up until a couple months ago I have been attending a WLS support group on a regular basis. I can tell you EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT REGAINED did so by slipping back into their old routines of eating, at least to some degree. No one regained by eating the way they did that first year postop. Three years ago I regained 15 pounds during an extended hospital stay with non-bariatric hospital food and limited movement. Had I stayed on that course I Would have easily hit the 50 pound regain mark. It took a lot of work and willpower to get that 15 pounds off but I made it a priority and the basic rules of WLS that Babbs mentioned were the key. In the end, It's your choices that determine your success, and it's far easier to regain than not.

Again, I haven't read this entire thread, but this post caught my eye. My daughter is a gastroenterologist and they are having outstanding results with fecal microbiota transplants in C. diff, IBD and Crohn's patients. Obesity is certainly another disease they are looking at with this treatment. However, she assures me it's not as simple as "get new poo and be skinny". Obesity is much too complex to have a simple cure. Genetics, flora, metabolic function and especially behaviors all contribute to varying degrees. If and when they do finally confirm the theory and start using FMT to treat obesity, it will only be a tool, just like surgery. What we eat is and always will be the final determination of our weight.

This is a long thread and despite being a long time lurker, I have not read all of the replies. But my answer would be -2 or 15, depending on how you look at it. At almost 6 years out I am 2 pounds below my goal weight. But at one point I regained 15 pounds. This happened while I was hospitalized with a broken pelvis and femur. The hospital food was actually making me gain weight, but it was hard to tell because of all the swelling from the injuries and surgery and the fact I was wearing gowns instead of my real clothes. As soon as I realized what was happening I nixed the hospital food and went back to eating the way I was before. The way it took to lose the weight in the first place. THAT, folks, is the key to long term success. Since I was in a wheelchair and then a walker for so long, it took me awhile to get those 15 pounds off. But I certainly didn't have sleeve surgery just to become fat again, and I've seen first hand from folks in my support group what happens when you let poor choices become a regular part of your life.

I started just over 50 and am now 23ish. Took about a year and a half to get to my low weight and I've kept it off for over 4 years. Like others said, it takes work on your part, but it's only as hard as you make it. Utilize all resources at your disposal, including support groups and personal therapy. Every single person I've seen not lose or regain have done so because of going back to eating the way they did before surgery. Without professional psychological intervention, I would have done the same. Surgery was key to my ability to lose weight, but the mental changes are what keeps it off.

I can tell you, at almost 6 years post gastric sleeve, drinking with meals does not mean you will regain your lost weight. i've been doing it for at least 5 years. None of the patients in my support group regained because of this. They regained because they went back to eating the way they did before they had surgery. Drinking with meals actually fills me up quicker and I end up eating less, and I always stop before I get full. If you don't overstuff yourself, whether it's with solids or liquids, you can't stretch anything. (Even though it is physically impossible to stretch your stomach to it's original size unless your surgeon is completely incompetent)

If you don't intend to tell them the truth behind your weightloss then have some fun with it. Make up some horrible disease that would make them very uncomfortable asking more questions. You have cancer but are too devastated to talk about it. You got a parasite from eating at X restaurant and the doctors can't figure out how to kill it. Internal flesh eating bacteria has destroyed most of your GI tract. My brother in law does this all the time when people ask inappropriate questions and it's great entertainment to watch their reactions.