Introversion

What was your starting weight? The less you weighed on surgery day, the more slowly you tend to lose the weight. In addition, when is the last time you lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks using the old fashioned methods of diet and exercise? I'm guessing your answer is "Never." You're doing great. For comparison, it took me 8 weeks (2 months) to lose a whopping 27.5 pounds. But the bigger picture is what I cling to, because although I was a slow loser, I lost 100+ pounds, got to my goal weight, and have been maintaining it. The following groups of people tend to be faster losers: males, the super morbidly obese (BMI 50+), and people under 35 years old. Typically, slower losers tend to be older females, 'lightweights' with less than 100 pounds to lose, menopausal women, racial/ethnic minorities, and people with metabolic issues like PCOS, hypothyroid, diabetes, and insulin resistance. It's time to adjust your expectations. How fast you lose doesn't matter; rather, keeping the weight off for life should be your focus. What's the point of losing like a house on fire, then regaining the weight? Regain is a common issue in the bariatric surgery community that no one thinks about during the weight loss phase, yet preventing weight regain is far more important than losing the weight. Good luck to you.

Before I answer, be mindful I'm 2.5 years out and active. I run 20+ miles a week and lift weights 3 times weekly, so I tolerate carbs well since my body uses them as substrate for exercise. I eat upwards of 200 grams of carbs per day... However, during my weight loss phase with the sleeve, I loosely kept my carb intake under 120 grams per day. Each person's body has a different tolerance to carbs. Prior to the sleeve, my carb tolerance was piss-poor.

It's eerie how our weight gain trajectories and stories have striking similarities. Thank you for sharing your story! In addition to weight gain right before the onset of puberty, I also had a father who was a problem drinker. On top of that, he was also a crack addict during my early and middle childhood years. I used food as a distraction starting in my preteen years. My mother was obese and worked long hours at a factory, so she'd come home hungry. Her portion sizes were massive. The role-modeling for reasonable choices simply wasn't there. I, too, received unwanted attention for my breast size in my pre-teens. I was wearing a 38C bra at age 12 when many of my classmates were still flat-chested or had smaller breasts. To keep a long story short, I fought the battle of the bulge for 2+ decades starting in my teens. I could lose substantial weight, but could never keep it off. In fact, I'd lost 200+ pounds through yo-yo dieting in those 2 decades (lose 30, regain 60, lose 50, regain 90, etc). Bariatric surgery was/is my last hope for keeping the weight off.

WARNING...this is lengthy. Proceed if you wish. My weight issues began a few years before puberty. I had my menstrual cycle at age 11, but the onset of puberty for girls is 1.5 to 2 years before the first menstruation. I was a slightly overweight 8-year-old, but not obese. I probably weighed 15 pounds more than most other girls in class. This was partially due to the highly processed foods I ate at home (my parents didn't have a whole lot of money for high-quality groceries), and partially due to genetics. My mother was obese, and my maternal grandmother was super morbidly obese. By age 12 I was about 4'10 and weighed 120 pounds. Again, this doesn't seem like a lot, but it was about 20 to 30 pounds heavier than other girls in class. By age 14 I had reached my adult height of 5'1 and weighed 155 pounds. This was in 1995 when most teens weren't overweight, so I stood out in a sea of girls who weighed 30 to 40 pounds less. I was 15 when I went on my first major diet during the summer before the 10th grade of high school. I lost 30 pounds on a diet of 800 calories daily combined with stationary bike workouts. I slowly regained the weight, and was weighing 160 pounds on the day of high school graduation. I was 20 when I initiated the next major diet. My starting weight was 175 pounds. I lost 60 pounds through exercise and an 800-calorie-a day diet. I weighed 116 and maintained the loss for 2+ years by running 5 miles daily, but lost momentum after relocating far away from my workplace. I regained it all plus more, weighing 205 pounds by age 24. I was 25 when I lost 17 pounds on NutriSystem, but regained it all plus more. I started NutriSystem at 205 pounds, got to 188, then regained and weighed 216 later that year. I was 26 when I initiated the next major diet. My starting weight was 216 pounds. I lost 54 pounds through diet and exercise, attaining a weight of 162. However, I regained to 203 pounds. I was 29 when I initiated the next major diet. My starting weight was 203 pounds. I lost 25 pounds with diet and exercise, reaching 178 pounds. Nonetheless, I regained to 197 pounds. I was 32 when I initiated the next major diet. I started at 180 pounds when my best friend asked me to participate in her wedding as a bridesmaid. I lost 52 pounds, going from 180 to 128 pounds. I regained 97 pounds in 16 months, reaching my highest weight of 225. I had bariatric surgery at age 34. I'm now 36 and this is the most weight-stable I've been in my life. The sleeve reset my internal set-point while I hold up my end of the bargain with a physically active lifestyle and reasonable food choices.

To be honest, the only macronutrient I track is protein. And...I track it in the loosest sense: I don't use calorie-counting apps or trackers because they remind me of the dieting mentality. I run 20+ miles weekly and lift weights 3 times a week, so I aim for 120 grams of protein a day. Since I'm physically active and trying to build muscle tissue, my protein needs are increased. My weight fluctuates between 118 and 122 pounds, so I consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Those who are much heavier may want to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass since eating 300+ grams of protein daily isn't exactly advisable.

To clear up a common misconception, one's sleeve size doesn't determine the rate of weight loss or chances of weight regain. It's the neurohormonal changes prompted by the sleeve that initially lead to weight loss during the honeymoon period such as reduced ghrelin secretion, and increased GLP1 and peptide YY secretion. Likewise, a person's long term habits determine whether weight regain occurs. A reduced size stomach won't stop a compulsive eater with a tiny stomach; they'll simply finish the entire pizza by eating 1 slice every 30 to 45 minutes rather than polishing it off all at once. Moreover, each sleeve is a different size than the next person's sleeve. Bougie size and surgical technique determine final sleeve size. Bougie sizing ranges from 32F to 40F here in the US. For example, my bariatric surgeon said he uses only two sizes and techniques when creating peoples' sleeves: either a 'loose' 38F bougie or a 'tight' 40F bougie, dependent on the manner in which the surgery is progressing. My sleeve was created with a 40F bougie, which is a larger size. I'll also mention that some people blame larger bougie size on their inability to lose that much weight with their sleeves. A woman posted she was unable to lose weight since her sleeve had been shaped with a 38F bougie, but most of us who were sleeved with 40F bougies (read: larger size) reached our goal weights or fell somewhat below goal weight. In sum, habits are far more important than the size of the sleeve. Those who depend on sleeve restriction alone to help them maintain their weight often experience regain.

There's no garden variety answer for this. Therapists and counselors make their suggestions based on the root causes of your overeating because different people overeat for differing reasons. Some people are emotional overeaters or stress eaters. Other eat to ease loneliness or boredom. Some folks suffer from pathology such as binge eating disorder or compulsive eating disorder. Still, others overeat in response to past abuse...a theory is that a bigger body habitus serves as a type of psychological armor. Finally, some people eat too much because they're food addicts. In my case, my counselor determined I had free-floating anxiety and PTSD due to childhood trauma. I grew up in a home where one parent was a drug addict. I witnessed domestic violence and saw things a child should never see, so I used food to distract me from powerful feelings and flashbacks well into adulthood. I was given tools to address the anxiety and PTSD head-on. You see, it's never directly about the food...most of us ate too much due to a root cause. The counselor unearths the root cause and formulates a plan to help you work on dealing with that. Once you address the root cause of your overeating tendencies, the compulsive drive to eat decreases unless you're truly addicted to food.

Your sleeve is going to relax and accommodate a higher volume of food over time. This is normal and expected, but it seems to shock some people. The days of getting full off a few bites of food don't last. Bariatric surgeon Dr. Matthew Weiner has a series of YouTube videos on this topic. He essentially states that the typical sleever can eat two-thirds of 1 plate of food by 3 to 5 years out. To protect your sleeve, do not overeat on a regular basis. Do not over-stuff your pie-hole. Click on the link below on tips to prevent stomach stretching. https://www.obesitycoverage.com/weight-loss-surgeries/gastric-sleeve/gastric-sleeve-will-my-stomach-stretch

Whether or not you'll have loose skin is entirely dependent on your starting weight, age, genetics, and smoking status. Depending on how long you were obese and how old you are, there may or may not be anything you can do to prevent loose skin. Generally, younger peoples' skin tends to 'snap' back, but not always. Nonetheless, some people swear by liquid collagen, topical elastin, and vitamin E creams during the active weight loss phase to prevent loose skin.

Same here...I can eat a decent amount of salad and be hungry 30 minutes later, even if it contained a decent amount of protein in the form of grilled chicken, cheese, boiled eggs, ham slices, etc. I can polish off a large restaurant-sized salad in about an hour if I wanted to by eating half now and eating the other half in 30 minutes. My stomach treats salad as a slider.

Did you initially lose any weight when you were sleeved in 2014? Jump-starting weight loss with a sleeve involves no deep, dark secrets. Start doing the things that initially caused you to lose some weight 3 years ago. Stop doing the things that have caused you to stall and/or regain weight in recent years. You could also try the 5-day pouch test: http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html

Although I don't have PCOS, I'm insulin-resistant due to a family history of diabetes. Here are my suggestions. See if these tips kickstart your weight loss once again. Track your protein intake. Consume a minimum of 80 grams of protein daily, preferably from animal-based sources like chicken, beef, lean pork chops, etc. Protein boosts our metabolic rate due to its thermic effect and promotes satiety. Drink 64+ ounces of water daily. The liver needs a certain amount of water to metabolize the fat you burn. In addition, water-induced thermogenesis helps us lose weight: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/88/12/6015/2661518/Water-Induced-Thermogenesis Curtail your carb intake due to PCOS. Strive for less than 50 grams of carbs per day and see how you respond: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1334192/ Avoid exercise for the first 3 to 4 days of these dietary changes because you'll likely feel weak. However, by the 4th day or so, you'll begin to feel energetic as your body switches to stored fat as its preferential fuel source. Good luck to you.

I notice you eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates for someone with PCOS who is attempting to lose weight. Sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice, pastas, etc. The hallmark of PCOS is insulin resistance. Those with insulin resistance remain in perpetual fat-storage mode when they don't curtail their carb intake. The manner in which you're eating stimulates a continual stream of insulin production, thereby keeping your fat stores from being burned off. Therefore, you won't lose weight. Think of it this way...carbs are the easy, preferential way for your body to burn for fuel and energy, so why would it waste precious effort metabolizing your stored body fat when it obtains all the energy it needs from the constant stream of starches you feed it? My advice is to curtail your carb intake ASAP. Good luck to you.

I concur that Sammie's response may have been blunt. Nonetheless, it was truthful. The original poster can definitely go on another diet and get back on track to lose the 50 pounds she's recently regained. Still, unless she addresses the root cause of the weight gain (read: emotional overeating), she'll most likely turn to food for comfort and stress relief when the next situational crisis occurs, thereby regaining the pounds once again. To succeed long-term after weight loss surgery in the lifelong maintenance phase, bariatric surgery recipients must learn and actively utilize coping skills to deal with life's ups and downs that don't involve overeating. Again, I'll keep the original poster's family in my thoughts. I'll also silently root for her with the hope that she succeeds in losing the regain and maintaining the loss long term.

How many calories per day are you obtaining? How many grams of protein? How many ounces of water do you drink daily? Do you track? I'm asking because some WLS patients keep their food intake too low for too long, thinking this will promote continued weight loss when it won't. The combo of over-exercise and underfeeding is notorious for causing prolonged stalls and plateaus. A weight loss of 36 pounds in 12 months is concerning...

Perhaps it's time to start adding additional food. Seriously... The best stall-buster is a sudden increase in calories, protein, and water. You will likely continue to experience stalls if you attempt to maintain a low caloric intake. Our bodies are astute and will adapt to the morsels we feed them if the intake is too low for too long. I started increasing my caloric intake in a stepwise pattern at 4 months out. Back then, I bumped it up from 800 calories daily to the 1000-1200 range each day. At 6 months out I was regularly eating 1200 to 1400 calories a day. At 9 months out I had gotten up to about 1500 calories a day. By 1 year out I routinely ate 1500 to 1700 calories a day. I am now 2+ years out and maintain in the 2000+ calorie-per-day range, while those who kept their intake too low for too long seem to rapidly regain if they eat more than 1200 calories daily.

Most bariatric surgeons in the U.S. have a 6-week restriction on resistance training. In other words, resistance exercises are not advised for the first 6 weeks post-op. I didn't resume resistance training or cardio exercise until 3 months post-op.

I attended a weight loss surgery conference earlier this year. One of the featured speakers (Anisa Grantham) is a psychotherapist who specializes in bariatric surgery issues and underwent the gastric bypass 15+ years ago. Anyhow, she made the comparison between food and the other basic needs in life such as oxygen, water, shelter, activity, sleep, and elimination. Food fulfills our basic needs for nutrition. Once we start using food for something other than fuel and nutrition, we travel down a slippery slope and get into trouble. Ms. Grantham said that food is the only basic need people insist they 'love.' Nobody loves or is emotionally attached to other basic needs. No one loves the poop we defecate (elimination). Nobody loves the air we breathe (oxygenation). Nobody loves basic movement (activity). No one loves housing (shelter). When someone claims to love food, it's indicative of a dysfunctional relationship with something that should be treated as a basic need and nothing more. Loving food is akin to loving one's toilet bowl: we need food for nutrition just like we need a toilet for elimination of bodily wastes. Why do people love food but don't love their toilet bowls?

Some things I look forward to: Exercise Nature Talking to my best friend My paycheck Cooking Being alive and healthy I mention this as sensitively as possible...perhaps you may wish to seriously consider seeking professional help for the binge-eating because weight loss surgery won't stop the binges. In fact, once your stomach heals, you'll simply find another way to binge around your sleeve by eating a slice of pizza every 30 minutes until you eat the whole pie. Without professional help, the compulsive drive to eat will still be there and a reduced-size stomach won't stop you. Medications such as Vyvanse and Topamax treat binge eating disorder, and cognitive behavioral therapies help. But without professional help, I've seen binge eaters regain 150+ pounds with a sleeve. Good luck to you.

I am so very sorry for your loss and recent family illnesses. In essence, there's no magical secret to losing weight with a sleeve: Start doing the things that caused you to lose weight when you were first sleeved. Stop doing the things that have caused you to regain a massive amount of weight. However, and I say this as sensitively as possible...weight loss should not be your primary focus right now. It's time to adopt coping skills that don't revolve around food as comfort. If you lose weight right now, will you regain when the next crisis arises due to turning to food? 90+ percent of success with weight loss post-sleeve is psychological. Your head must be fully in the game. Good luck to you, and I'll keep your family in my thoughts.

I'm 2+ years post-sleeve and life is so much better. I eat chicken and fresh veggies all the time. In fact, I had chicken and roasted honey sriracha Brussels sprouts for dinner yesterday. I'm full of energy. I run 20+ miles a week and lift heavy weights 3 times weekly. I don't have indigestion, acid reflux or heartburn. Realize that most sleeved people suffer no complications. But, due to negativity bias, the unfortunate souls who had complications shout the loudest, so perceptions on the surgery's safety are skewed. After all, few people post, "I had an uneventful recovery and reached my goal weight!" Most of the people who gripe/complain had poor outcomes, whereas the silent majority of WLS patients have been successful. The difference is that the success stories move on with their lives and are less inclined to run to internet forums with complaints. I could lose weight before surgery...I was the yo-yo diet queen. I'm in my mid 30s and lost 200+ pounds in the 2 decades before surgery (lose 30, regain 50, lose 60, regain 90, rinse & repeat). Nonetheless, I couldn't keep weight off. Your chances of maintaining your current weight loss without surgery are less than 5 percent. The odds are stacked against you. However, if you feel uncomfortable, don't do it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Why mix Halo Top with a protein shake when you can simply ditch the shakes and eat the Halo Top by itself to obtain your protein? Mixing the two would seem to be calorie overload. Most flavors of Halo Top contain 20 grams of protein and 240 to 280 calories per pint. Some 'richer' flavors have more calories than that, but I'd stick to the ones with less than 300 calories.

Clothing sizes are totally arbitrary. They're aren't standardized or uniform, so a size 6 from one brand may run much larger or smaller than a size 6 from another brand/maker. Most of the respondents in that other clothes size thread are in the U.S. In other countries, sizing appears in larger numbers (e.g. women's size 29 jeans in Europe translates to size 8 in the U.S.). I am in the U.S., 5'1 tall, a 22 BMI (118 to 120 pounds), and wear a size 4. Immediately before surgery I was a 41 BMI (218 pounds) and wore a size 20. Also, vanity sizing prevails here in the U.S. Clothing sizes have actually gotten larger over the decades to accommodate the obesity epidemic. For instance, the modern day size 2 would have been a size 8 in the 1950s and 1960s. Today's size 10 would have been a size 14 in the 1960s.

Less than 1 percent of all people suffer complications during sleeve gastrectomy surgery. For context, that's about 1 out of every 100 people who have complications during surgery. Your husband needs to be more scared about what will happen if you remain obese: increased risk of diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney failure, strokes, bilateral knee replacement due to arthritis, high cholesterol, cancer, and so on...all at a young age. Look around you...how many elderly people are alive who are morbidly obese? Very few. If your husband loves you and wishes to grow old with you, then surgery is your best bet. Good luck to you.

I'm 2+ years out and have never crushed any of my pills. I'm also on Synthroid and my lab results are normal without ever having crushed pills before swallowing. Bariatric surgeons do not want liability if we choke or aspirate pills, so they give a garden-variety directive to all patients to crush their medications. Here's a clue: it's not necessary. Your doctor simply doesn't want you to sue him/her if you choke on a pill and experience a poor outcome.