Dairymary

Depends on how in shape you are before surgery. If you can't walk a mile now, you won't be able to immediately afterwards, either. But if walking a couple miles/day is something your body is used to, you shouldn't have any problem. My normal daily routine included walking 5-10 miles/day, and I was able to return to that within a week of surgery. Wishing you an easy and quick recovery!

What a horrible disease. Have you undergone a fecal microbiota transplant? My daughter is a gastroenterologist and she told me they have an over 90% cure rate with it.

I did have a therapist throughout but not through my bariatric team and not in connection with being overweight. I don't have a food "addiction". I gained weight during a long term illness that left me bed bound and taking medication that causes weight gain. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I'm very sorry for your illness and what you have gone through. We all have our own stories of how we became obese. But bottom line, we all got that way because we ate more calories than our bodies needed. Yes, medications, certain illnesses and restricted activity can contribute, but we consciously made the choices of the kind of food and amount of food we ate. We couldn't help ourselves despite the fact our behavior lead to unwanted results. This is the definition of addiction. I hope you are getting better and I truly hope you find peace with your decision to have WLS.

So for those of you regretting surgery and struggling, are you seeing a therapist.? In my experience, this is critical to success and yes, should be mandatory before and after any WLS. It's done wonders for all aspects of my life. just Like the OP said, we suffer from a psychological addiction that surgery did not address in any way shape or form.

My surgeon set a very attainable goal for me.....don't quite remember the number, but it definitely left me in the overweight category. And really, as far as EWL goes, they are considered successful if their patients lose 60%. I, however had a higher standard of expectation for myself and my goal weight was much lower than his. I actually ended up exceeding even my own lofty goal and have maintained an over 100% EWL for over 3 years. So anything is possible. Bariatric stats and your surgeon's limited expectations do not have to dictate your final outcome. Go ahead and lose however much you want to.

I was told no nuts or seeds for 3 months. But I waited 6 months just to be safe. So even at my surgeon's bare minimum time frame this would be a little soon for popcorn kernels. What does your surgeon/nut say?

I had been married 30 years when I had my surgery. My husband supported me in his usual, quite, passive way. Meaning he wasn't exactly a cheerleader, he didn't even accompany me to Mexico, and he certainly didn't join in on any of my new eating habits. But he never discourage me or try to sabotage me in any way. He probably would have been more worried about the surgery itself if it weren't for our daughter. She is a doctor and encouraged me to have the surgery, which of course made him more comfortable with it. He didn't marry a thin gal, but I was a lot bigger at the time of surgery than I Was when we met. I couldn't do a lot of the physical outdoor activities we used to do together, and that was a strain on both of us. We never stopped caring about or loving each other, but there wasn't a lot of pizzaz left in our marriage. Since losing my weight, we have actually become closer and our relationship stronger. I think mostly because of the confidence I found in myself and the fact we could once again be a "team". Fortunately he is not threatened by the new and improved Mary and has not had any issues with jealousy....even though I point out to him all the time how hot I am . That seems to be one of the biggest problems I've observed when one partner suddenly becomes more "desirable" to the opposite sex. Of course I'm a grandma, so things might be different as a young couple. In the end, I don't think WLS causes the breakups. If couples split after one of them loses weight, then there were already problems with the relationship. I wish you all the best and always remember guys can be just as insecure as us and they need to know we love them....no matter what size we are.

I went from a BMI of 50 to 23ish. It wasn't necessarily a goal, just a place that is easy for me to maintain. People were making comments about me being "too thin" when I was 50 pounds heavier than I am now and technically still obese. They were just so used to the Fat Mary, that anything else Just didn't look right. I actually was 5 pounds lighter than I am now for a brief period and I did think I looked boney at that point. I gladly let myself regain those 5 pounds.

It was so long ago I don't remember when I hit the 100 pound mark, but it took a month Preop plus 18 months postop to lose 160 pounds. I started with a BMI of 50.

I just celebrated my 6 year surgiversary. No complications to speak of. I take my vitamins, get annual bloodwork done, eat healthy and drink lots of fluid. Lost 160ish pounds and feeling fabulous.

For the first year no, I wasn't particularly hungry. I had plenty of fat to feed my body. But in maintenance, Here's my checklist.... Head hunger....check Cravings.....check Acid "hunger"..... No Real, light headed, super cranky, gonna pass out hunger....check I'm actually hungry more often now than I ever was before surgery and HAVE to eat every 3-4 hours. But of course I never eat to fullness, either. It's just a new normal way to feel.

I had my surgery with Dr. Ariel Ortiz 6 years ago. My daughter, who is a gastroenterologist hand picked him for me because my insurance wouldn't pay for VSG at the time. She knew of him through some colleagues in the international medical community. Great care, no complications, easy recovery and outstanding results. I'm sure the choices are endless, so good luck with your decision. But I definitely recommend following up with the local bariatric groups in your area. I found the postop support from other patients going through the same thing to be very helpful.

First of all, 10 pounds/month is outstanding, if not excessive weight loss. relax and enjoy the ride...you are just at the very beginning of a lifetime of change. But in any case, You should be drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces for optimal weight loss. So for you, that's 95oz. Water is required for the biochemical process of fat metabolism. Without enough, that fat is going nowhere. Besides the fluids, you should shoot for 60-80g Protein. It will help with weight loss, maintaining muscle mass and maybe even hair loss down the line. Also, what is your calorie intake? A lot of new patients aren't getting enough calories and that can cause stalls as well. Good luck....you got this!

I am 6 years post sleeve and couldn't be happier with my results. I started with a BMI of 50, lost 160 pounds and maintain with a BMI around 22-23. I saw hundreds of WLS patients Come and go through my support group. These included band, sleeve, RNY and DS patients. The one common thread among the success stories was the individual's commitment to their new lifestyle. It is the food choices we make that determine success or failure, not necessarily the type of surgery. I saw just as many failed bypasses as sleeves. The "failures" were the ones that went back to eating the way they did before surgery. No surgery can overcome bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. The person you mentioned who regained 40 pounds would have probably done so with bypass as well. For me, personal therapy was the key to my success. Without the help of my therapist to change my thought patterns and discover new ways to deal with stress and sadness and anger and every other emotion out there, I probably would have failed my VSG, just like I failed every other diet in my life. These mental changes have been far more important to my ability to maintain my loss than my sleeve itself. Not everyone needs therapy, some are able to conquer their demons alone, but those people are rare. I would suggest taking an honest critical look at why you failed with the band. That will give you a starting point to know what you need to do different moving forward. One of the surgeons in the bariatric group I was with absolutely would not perform any revision surgery unless his patients first underwent extensive therapy with a psychiatrist. Kind of like a 6 month mental preop diet. I guess he didn't want to waste his time with someone who will waste their surgery a second time around. A lot of his patients were pissed about it and some even went to other surgeons, but in the end, the stats of his patients were impressive. I will leave it up to the revision patients to tell you the specific physical differences between surgeries because I have no personal experience with that. Good luck with your decision.

IN general, fast food isn't particularly healthy, but its certainly easy to make bariatric friendly choices. 1) stay away from anything deep fried. Stick with grilled options. Nothing with breading, no fries, onion rings or tots. 2) stay away from carbs. Order the sandwich but toss the bun. Some places even let you order it "low carb" and they wrap the burger in lettuce. No soda, lemonade, milk shakes, Cookies, pies, or high calorie coffee drinks. 3) salads can be a good choice but be smart about the dressings, croutons, etc. 4) Taco Bell refried Beans, Wendy's chili and soft meats like Arby's roast beef or ham are probably better options for you so soon Postop. Better safe than sorry when it comes your newly stitched and still healing sleeve. I actually wasn't cleared for solid food till 6 weeks postop. I actually eat fast food 3-4 times/month, but my choices are pretty much pure Protein (and fat - which has never affects my maintenance)

no. you can't have any of my money. stop being lazy and go out and make some for yourself. No wonder you gained all that weight. being lazy and begging others for their hard earned money LOL that my be the most outrageous statement you've made yet. Who's hard earned money?! Certainly not yours. You have a mommy and daddy paying for everything while you jet set around the world wasting your GRANDPARENTS hard earned money to indulge your surgical whims. BTW I've had a job since I was 14 years old and have never once taken a single penny of welfare, social security, or unemployment. I Worked three jobs to put myself through college. Raised 2 children, and put them through college (and one through medical school) by working 14+ hours/day. I paid for my OWN surgery with money I EARNED. I own my own house and well over a million dollars of equipment, land and livestock. I earned this by working for it....nothing was given to me for free. Have you ever even supported yourself for a day?

Wow, you might be the most misinformed, psychologically disturbed individual I have ever met in the WLS world. (Probably from drinking all that nasty organic milk). But unfortunately it Sounds like your mind is made up and you will learn the hard way just how wrong you are about VSG surgery curing your eating disorder. Too bad your unethical surgeon and your mother is enabling you. If she really cared she'd get you the help you really need. but still, As long shes throwing money away, can I have some? I'll even tell you all the warm fuzzy lies about bariatric surgery you want.

What's that?

To the OP...I saw on another forum that you are actually wanting to get surgery because you have a serious binge eating disorder. I can't stress enough what a poor choice surgery is for that particular problem. I guess that explains why your pouch stretched when you had the band. And the same thing will happen with ANY WLS. This thread itself is proof that you are looking for a a way to continue to eat in excess by wanting a stretched sleeve. The only real solution to your issue is professional psychiatric therapy. What you have is a mental disorder that needs psychological intervention, not physical alteration of your internal organs. Please get help, not surgery.

No wonder you are thirsty!!!! 64oz is bare minimal for a "normal" size person. At your weight, 135oz would be optimum for weight loss.

How much are you drinking total in a day and how much do you weigh?

I had my surgery in Mexico, and although the practice I went to had an online support forum, it wasn't very well "attended". I joined several different local groups within an hour of my home until I found one that fit. There were often patients that came from different doctors and programs which always gave us fresh perspectives. In addition to the personal therapist I saw for the first several years, I attended support group fairly regularly up until 6 months ago. I enjoyed the comraderie, so here I am, trying my hand at online support.

I buy them by the caseful from SAMs and have since they first came out. The new Bai teas are just as yummy as the oroginals. Beats the heck out of all the low cal drinks loaded with artificial sweeteners. The only thing I can't do are the Bai sparkling drinks in the cans (because of the carbonation). They are also available in most convenience stores and gas stations, so very convenient to pick up when traveling.

You have a relatively small amount to lose and you are already 1/3 of the way there in less than two months. If anything, I'd say that is an excessive rate of loss. Besides, You are not a contestant on The Biggest Loser, you are in this for life. It took almost a year and a half to reach my goal and I was perfectly fine with it. 1 1/2 years is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of my life. You should be asking what Vitamins should I be taking? How do I get in all my fluids (you should be getting close to 100oz for optimum weight loss) Should I be seeing a therapist to help me make the necessary psychological changes required to keep my weight off? Just enjoy the journey and count your NSVs. They are way more exciting anyways.

There is nothing I don't eat, in proper portions, so I would never be a "desperate" food situation. The only time I feel a little strained is when I leave the house without something to drink. I'm way more obsessed with fluids than food.