itscometothis

I am interested in becoming a vegetarian and if I can, a vegan. Realistically now is not the time to do this because I need to get the protein in, but I wondered if anyone has become a vegetarian or vegan a year or so after surgery... after the bulk of the weight was lost. Any feedback would be great

I'm glad I found this post.. the holiday season has been a mess of cookies and snack mix! If I eat one more peanut butter marshmallow square I am going to turn into one! The wine and girly drinks are creating havoc as well.. ugh. I weighed myself and gained 4 pounds... I had surgery in August.. it's RIDICULOUS to gain weight less than 6 months out! Anyways.. deep breath.. hello protein and vegetables, goodbye everything else!

It doesn't matter how much you are overweight.. if you are unhappy and can't stand to be fat another day then you should be just as entitled to have VSG as someone who is more overweight. At the end of the day it is about quality of life and sometimes 50 extra pounds is crippling to a person! I was self-pay and wanted to lose about 60 pounds... if you are 300 pounds overweight or 45 you are struggling! Good luck to you!

Well, it's been almost 4 months since my surgery. I didn't have to do much in the way of pre-op so the weight I have lost is all from surgery. I am down 32 pounds. My start weight was just below 200 and now I am clearly Jennifer Lopez..lol I actually look rather 'normal,' I have no complaints and if I suddenly stopped losing weight and was stuck here forever I would be OK. At least I feel better about my self image. I am hoping that the hairs in my head stay put and that my skin finds it in it's heart to have a spring in it's step. At the ripe old age of 40 it still may have some elasticity although I get the strange feeling that the skin on my neck is not going to bother to cooperate. Since I am keeping this whole VSG thingy to a dull roar, not telling everyone I see, the slower weight loss is a blessing. I don't have to do much explaining, which is a relief. I think the slower weight loss may have something to do with the size I was when I started and with the amount of weight I had to lose. At this point I am at a weight that I was for about 10 years of my life(before having a child) My body likes this weight a great deal and getting below it will likely be slow. All I know is that when I put my jeans on after they have come out of the dryer I KNOW they are going to either fit or be getting a bit looser. No more dreading the thought of them shrinking(read as me gaining weight and blaming the jeans and dryer) When I sit down I don't have to pull my damn shirt out from a roll. Ya know? lol So even though it is slow it is coming off. If anyone else is a slow loser please remind me to stop secretly wishing my ex-husbands new 18 year old girlfriend(whatever.. she is young)gains what I have lost. lol Here's to all the slower losers... may the weight go away and never find its way back home!

I have to get this off my chest and then I will move on..lol When someone makes a post and another member disagrees and it continues on for a bit I find it incredibly annoying when a third party jumps in to comment that.. We are ALL adults here and shouldn't be arguing... Or someone will say... "Wow.. DRAMA!" First of all, adults argue.. that's what people do. We don't spend our lives agreeing with everyone. Last I checked no one is full of sunshine and rainbows all the time. Disagreements and differences of opinion are fabulous and necessary. If you don't want in on a specific thread that you think is an argument then just don't read it. Secondly.. commenting by saying.. Oooohh Drama! makes you part of the drama. Enough said. I don't require another person to tell me not to argue. As an adult I am able to disagree. And to be honest with you I always learn something from an opposite point of view! There.. now I feel much better... feel free to argue with me at any time..lol

This is a great thread. These are just a few of the reasons I chose not to tell everyone. The constant attention on what I eat would make me crazy! And the only people who seem to be, "concerned" about my weight loss are my friends who are overweight. They never mentioned they had concerns when I was tipping the scales at 200 but now that I have lost weight they want to make sure I'm doing this in a healthy way. I just smile and say that I am happy and healthy

Just so you know... I went to Dr. Kelly.. he is only a little bit more than Almanza but the amount of peace of mind I had was priceless. You need to research and when you think you are ready to decide, research some more. This is an important decision you are making.. be well informed and know that there are many doctors in Mexico that do the VSG for a decent price at a HOSPITAL Good luck on your research and if you want you can message me any time

Besides meat I was wondering what foods really fill people up quickly. I would like to lose a little bit quicker while my sleeve(aka my portion control pouch) is relatively new. I am just over two months out and lose about a pound or so a week. While I am perfectly fine with this, I wondered if people could share the types of foods, besides meat that really give you that full feeling. Maybe that will help me to lose a little bit more during the honeymoon phase. Thanks

Thank you both for the information.. I think I am going to try to get close to goal before switching, but I am definitely going to start along that path!

I've used the lemonade one.. it has 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber... but you mix it into 17 ounces of water. It's pretty good. I am desperate to get away from artificial sweeteners though so I am weening myself off..lol

I had surgery with Dr. Kelly in August... both my friend and I had lower BMI's and no one ever said anything about it. In my opinion this is a wonderful option for lower bmi patients. And really.. obese is obese... if you have a bmi of 30 you are obese and should have some choices. Telling someone to gain weight to qualify for this surgery is ludicrous. Dr. Kelly was great with my friend and I are doing wonderfully! Good luck!

What a wonderful post

If there is one good thing about being a slow loser let it be that my hair stays where it is!!! It is a lifelong joke that I can actually count the amount of hairs I have.. if they start falling out I'm going to look like I am going through chemotherapy.

I am three months post op today.. I have lost a total of 29 pounds WHOOHOO! I started out at 198 and am 5 foot 3. I was wondering if anyone else who had a similar starting bmi (35) as myself and is 3 months out could post their progress. I realize we all lose at different rates, but I just wanted to compare. I am not complaining about slow weight loss because I wouldn't have lost this much weight had I been on a diet. Some people are all upset and freaked out because they ONLY lose 4 pounds a week and I'm baffled by that. That seems extremely fast..lol Anyways.. if you started out with a BMI of around 35 could you please let me know how you were doing weight loss wise at 3 months out.. thanks

I've had a few stalls and have found that if I eat more the stall ends. We all try to be on low carb, low fat, low calorie, low amount of food plans and they seem to cause stalls instead of weight loss. Weird. The past two weeks I have eaten more carbs and just a bit more overall and I have started to lose weight again. You want to pull your hair out(or someone elses..lol) when you feel like you are doing everything right yet the scale just stagnates. I think our bodies go into shock and hold onto weight because the amount we eat changes so drastically. Just my thoughts Good luck.. the stall will pass

lol.. I'm glad you posted this because I just called my friend(she had surgery the same day as me three months ago) and I said.. Are we done losing weight??? lol I logically know that we will both lose more, but when you are stalled forever it seems like this just isn't going to work out for you. I hear ya. I think things will start to pick up again and we will have a laugh about this... it's just not so funny right now. Here's to continued weight loss!

Well.. it is entirely possible that I am the one who I am really irritated at...LOL! Luckily I've moved on from my crankiness because I lost 3 pounds this week! YAY!

MustangAli.. I think you are great.. if you were my neighbor I would drop by with a freakin' crystal light and cheers you! lol

My hats off to you for a fabulous rant of feelings. I love that. If it makes you feel any better you made me smile because you are a wonderful reminder of the truth of all of this. The truth is, eventually you can eat a whole lot of crap and if you do you will be back in that sinking dingy that you were once in. I have a dingy too.. we all do. Try to get yourself on the SHIP and sail it. It's better to be the Captain of the ship than the dude with ripped clothes on the dingy..lol Hugs to you!

I'm just happy we are all losing weight and healthy Hugs to you!

I also had Dr. Kelly and my experience was excellent. I would like to say the following about price shopping and I mean it with complete respect for everyone. A lot of people say that THIS IS NO TIME TO PRICE SHOP!!!!!! But the very fact that you are going to Mexico says that you are price shopping to some degree, or that you cannot get the surgery where you live. I believe in the saying that 'You get what you pay for' But I also believe that if you do your research you will be well informed to make the best decision for yourself. I was originally going to go to Dr. Aceves because he has a fantastic reputation and I respect all that is said about him... but the truth is, I had to take out money from my retirement plan to have the surgery... and after a LOT of research I was more than comfortable to have surgery with Dr. Kelly. There is more than one reason why a surgeon charges more than another and I just think it is fair of me to post about this. Even in the U.S there are price differences between surgeons for various procedures... you just have to do what is best for you. Best of luck to everyone who does this!!!!

Hi there.. I had C-Diff when I had surgery.. I also had a cold. Dr. Kelly put me on medication for the C-Diff(google it.. nasty) and my cold was minor enough to do the surgery. Not only was I fine, but getting meds through an IV got rid of the C-Diff! If you need reassurance call Dr. Kelly. Your health is the most important thing. I was on the operating table and said that if he wasn't 100% sure I was willing to wait and he said I was going to be perfectly fine.. and I was Hope this helps! GOOD LUCK!!

I'm not standing up telling the world because I am happy to keep it to just close friends and family... having said that when I did tell those people I did it with a HUGE smile and I stood by myself. I was confident when I told them and my attitude about it seemed to spread to them. Good luck with everything.. Get over here you skinny body!! WHOOHOOOOO!!! lol

I don't seem to have any problems either. I just lose slowly and experience stalls far too often.

There is a great mall not too far from Lucerna.. I loved it! It was totally safe, but if you don't speak spanish it is a bit of a challenge. My coordinator was Trish and she took us to the mall.. she helped us to know how much to pay for things and translated for us. I am Canadian so the second language we learn is French..We were hopeless..lol You can talk to the guys that take your luggage at the hotel.. some of them speak English and can tell you where to go and how to get there. There is also a Pharmacy at the mall. I bought cream for scars. Hope this helps