Search the Community

So I'm going to just address the naked king in his new clothes standing in the middle of the room. IMHO, you are both maintaining. You are NOT stalled for 4 months. You are eating the amount of calories along with your surgery that allows you to maintain. But beware. You are both approaching the end of the honeymoon period within the next year or 14 months ish. Then those same calories you're taking in right now, will quite likely cause you to start creeping up on the scale. It's impossible to help you. You're not giving us enough information. I could come to you and ask the same question. But because I track every bite of food, good and bad, I can present samples of my day, I can present an excel spreadsheet showing the relationship of macros in a month to average weight loss. I have a LOT of data to look at and tweak. You don't have any of that, even a food log. How can you possibly know what it takes to lose weight? You've no earthly idea. This is not magic bean surgery. It's WL surgery. It's SCIENCE!!!!! You HAVE to count sh*t. The End. And any RD who says you don't has a butt-load of peeps keeping her in job security who never forking make goal!!!! I read yesterday that this surgery is 40% surgery and 60% you. I don't know if that's the exact ratio, but the reality is, weekly cheat days are just that...weekly events that derail your progress. They can do nothing but create a GHDWL situation (Ground Hog Day Weight Loss=where you gain and lose the same 2lbs over and over and over again until you want to chew your own leg off to see a drop on the scale). Go back to basics. For me, and from a lot of vets, the ideal losing phase is a caloric intake average of about 600-900 cals per day. Maintenance is personal--anywhere from 1000+ depending on so many variables. Go back to no eating or drinking 30-30 Water >64oz per day Vitamins every damn day Exercise (walk) every damn day--don't go cray with working out right now Weigh and measure everything (60-80g protein for the day; <30g of carbs daily; around 30g fat for the day; <10g naturally occurring sugars for the day) Log EVERY bite that goes down your piehole If you're drinking alcohol--stop that sh*t right now!!!! Eat 3 meals a day + 1 snack (no grazing, no crap foods, no slider foods) Eat your meals in a window of 15-30 minutes Protein (dense) first 3oz per meal Veggies next Healthy Fats next If any room leftover then low glycemic fruit/berries (but if you have more room, fill up on fibrous veggies) Accept that you are gonna feel like jack sh*t for about 2 weeks. You're eating carby crap and sugar. What do you really expect. Sadly it WILL be fuc*ing hard! You don't have the excitement of the looming surgery, you've got diet boredom, you've lost faith in your tool, and you're being self-indulgent and going back to bad habits. It's gonna hurt and you WILL have to force yourself to get over that hump. Get mad! Do it! Suffer. And do it. In 4 days it will get easier and each day after. If you do those things, I can ALMOST guarantee you will both start losing again. And remember, you can NEVER out-exercise a bad diet. Oh and get your butts to the counselor (someone who specializes in bariatrics). P.S. And I "get" that you want to have a normal relationship with food. I "get" that you want to eat intuitively like all the other skinny girls in the world. But what you don't realize is that many (maybe most) of those skinny girls are secretely limiting calories, fats, sugars, foods or worse, purging, or anna stuff to "effortlessly" look like they are naturally skinny girls. If we were capable of having normal relationships with food, we would have never made it to the obesity ball in the first place. If we didn't have seriously, and I mean SERIOUSLY broken metabolisms, we would never have become MO. Once you are MO, the "normal" rules of skinnydom no longer apply. You can not take the set of rules for naturally skinny people and apply them to the subset of MO and formerly MO people. You just can't. It's like trying to feed a lion a peanut, or trying to feed an elephant a dead gazelle. It's apples and oranges. DUE to our disease, we will ALWAYS have to be more vigilant, try harder, do more, and live differently if we EVER want to maintain our weight loss.)

Shues - as far as alcohol goes, the only things I am not allowed are beer and champagne (the carbonation thing). I too am looking forward to a glass of wine! I was told to keep it in moderation though -- a basic weightloss thing -- alcohol calories add up too! Maria

The purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink fatty livers so low-fat is very important. Clear soups are lower in fat than creamed soups. One gram of fat has 9 calories. One gram of protein or a carb has 4 calories. One gram of alcohol has 7 calories. Try entering your food into FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal or another site to help you keep track.

My incision was looking a little read and I just put some alcohol on it. I had to be on a 3 week liquid diet. I barely get to eat solids on Saturday!!:faint: I am excited but then again I am scared. How is the food going down? Have you pb'd?

I can say that the removal of my ravenous hunger, and ability to gorge myself with copious amounts of food and beverages has been the key to my success. However, this is a reply to another topic I posted a couple of days ago. This pretty much sums up my experience, and my mindset on long term success with VSG. I have been maintaining my weight loss VERY EFFORTLESSLY at the age of 34 for almost a year. I have a 5lb bounce around on the scale any given week. I can tie it to my indulgences of high sodium foods, and my "girls nights out" with copious amounts of alcohol. I do not ever get in any formal exercise and have NOT for a solid year. I've had spurts here and there of working out at home for a week to 10 days, but nothing consistent at all. I honestly I do eat anything and everything I want. Here's the kicker, I don't want to eat a lot of junk food. Why? Because my body runs best, I feel best physically when I feed my body a nutrient dense, Protein full diet, BUT I eat Cookies, chips, pretzels, rice, bread, Pasta all in moderation. Of course, about 85% of the time, I eat protein first, but sometimes all I want is some veggies. I do not count anything other than protein and calories now. I keep white carbs in moderation to some degree, but if I want mashed potatoes and gravy, guess what 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and a little gravy didn't make me FAT, 4 cups of mashed potatoes with gravy on top of a 12oz ribeye with mac-n-cheese, 3 dinner rolls, and 3 glasses of sweet ice tea made me fat. Moderation is the key. I will add that I have zero metabolic issues, nor is my body sensitive to carbs. I do not get the "eat a carb, crave a carb" nor am I an emotional eater. Therefore, going into this, I feel I beat the curve quite a bit. I was a volume eater. The sleeve will work just like any other weight loss surgery works. RNY and DS can be considered failures as well. Not one single weight loss surgery is bullet proof. So, a tool working long term is only as successful as the person using the tool. Just like a hammer to a nail. You can choose to keep your eyes open, steady your arm, and aim with precision as you go to drive that nail in with just a couple of dings, or you can wield that hammer blindfolded, with a swagger in your swing, and you'll more than likely miss the nail, hit your finger or dent the wood. Make sense? ? ? I will add that I am eating the same amounts currently that I was eating a year ago, but that quantity is double what I could at 2-3 months. The sleeve matures over time. There is minimal stretching. When I say double amounts, I was able to eat 2oz dense protein at 2-3 months out, today I can get in about 4-5oz of dense protein with a couple bites of veggies. You can cheat any of the surgeries, and the sleeve can be eaten around. I know the tricks, I employ them on occasion. Drinking warm fluids or having a glass of wine with my meal relaxes my stomach, therefore I can fit a bit more in, a bit more = 1-2 ounces of mashed potatoes, or mac-n-cheese on top of my chicken. To this day, I can NOT eat an entire chicken breast without stretching my meal out over 40 minutes. I can barely eat 1.5-2 poached eggs. What I'm saying is that there is a max capacity to the sleeve, but the restriction you have the first 6 months will change, ENJOY that time, maximize your weight loss, and become diligent with changing your lifestyle. Any weight loss surgery success is defined by either compliancy or complacency and with some mechanical failures on the other surgery types you can find that a specific tool "didn't work properly". It's a choice you make. No one else, the surgery doesn't fail UNLESS it's not performed properly because there is nothing mechanical to fail with the sleeve like there is with the band or RNY. The other issues can be metabolic issues, or carb sensitivity, or some people lose differently. Stoma and pouches stretch, malabsorption of calories, fats and carbs stop after the adaptation process occurs in the intestines, and then RNY patients are having to rely on restriction only with a stretchy pouch, a blind stomach left behind making ghrelin at a higher level vs. Sleeve patients. With the band, the list of issues with it are long, detailed, but the reasons the band can and does fail are numerous. Pouch stretching, not being able to get a decent fill, then there's the physical issues with the band itself. I can go on and on. But, I know plenty of VSG'ers that are 2-4 years out (mainly on obesityhelp.com) that share my opinion on weight regain with VSG, their experiences are pretty similar to mine. There are several out there maintaining fairly effortlessly as well, and live a life of moderation. I've seen 20-40lb weight regain on a couple of patients that are 3-4 years out, and every time, they admit, I quit eating the proper foods, life happened and I turned to my old friend for comfort, or they just gave up and expected to eat ding dongs and hos hos without consequence. Most naturally thin women I know don't eat packages of hos hos on a regular basis. Most naturally thin women do watch what they eat, and do not shovel shitpots of craptastic food into their body without consequence. At least none of my naturally thin friends can eat like I did pre-op and not see weight gain.

I had a dream journey with the band, no surgery problems and my weight loss was text book. However, a year on and I don't know what to do. Except for breakfast which is. Usually porridge topped with yoghurt and seeds everything else I eat seems to come back. I would say not everything because I am only losing weight weight (and believe me I don't want to lose more) very slowly 5lbs since Christmas. I went back to the surgeon and he took 1cc out it made no difference. I am afraid to take out more because I don't want to put weight on either, and I am not even convinced that this is not my fault. I ask myself did I eat the wrong thing, did I eat too fast? Is it my fault? I can't even manage a starter at a restaurant and alcohol is completely out. Should I just try to live with this, I don't want to be fat again, I am so happy with my body lose skin and all.

It looks like the responses are from mostly newly banded or soon-to-be banded folks. Except for Elfiepoo - and Fran - way to go! Not that I discount anyone's opinion but I really wish I could hear from folks who have had it for more than a few years. If the definition of "successful" is to lose excess weight and keep it off for 3 years then I have been successful on my own. I lost 50+ lbs. and kept it off for 3+ years. I weighed between 135-142. Then I got pregnant, then I injured my back and the rollercoaster started again and I gained way more than I lost. I'm just scared to try again because then I might gain even more and I really can't stand the thought of being even fatter than I am now! I hear all of you and it makes sense that the band would help with stomach hunger and not head hunger. That's where the willpower comes in. OK. I get that now. So would this help me is what I have to figure out. When I'm hungry I go for the real foods like meat and vegetables and bread. I eat way too much regular food - I like the feeling of being stuffed. Then after the hunger is sated I start craving the sweets. No, not just sweets, CHOCOLATE! I can look at a piece of apple pie or a sugar cookie and it not do a thing for me, even when I'm hungry. I want real food when I'm hungry. When I'm craving I want chocolate. I can act like a normal person as far as turning down Cookies, candy etc. until the chocolate comes out. Then it's like showing an alcoholic a bottle of whiskey. So do you thing this would help me? I'm trying to be as objective as possible because I don't want to be disappointed by having unrealistic expectations. Thanks for all the info!

I first started here back in 2016 and let me tell you, although there were a ton of supportive people (especially veterans who were 3-5 years out and had years of experience to draw from, which I find really lacking now), there were also a lot of flame wars and ganging up on people. Whole threads would get shut down, people got banned, and a lot of people left en masse to try out other forums (but I still like this one the best). So the current group of active people here are great, no real shaming for going off-plan, or hurt snowflakes who couldn't take constructive criticism/help for what it was. At least, I haven't seen that since I've been back. It's almost like this is a new place. The little bit of tension that does exist is a pale shadow of what was here before! As for soda (or any carbonated drink), I think in the end it's up to each person to decide if it's worth it for them. I used to be addicted to Diet Coke/Coke Zero, drank at least a litre a day, until one day it just made my gastro-intestinal issues so bad I decided to stop cold turkey (this was years before my sleeve surgery). I never went back. I would occasionally have a Sprite or ginger ale but I wasn't addicted to those so it never got me back to drinking Coke. After my sleeve surgery, about 6 months out, I was with some colleagues at a restaurant and my only choice of drinks (besides water and alcohol) was soda, so I tried a very small ginger ale. I was in so much pain after a couple of sips, not only could I not finish the drink, I couldn't finish the meal. The few other times I've tried anything carbonated over the years has been the same - my stomach just can't handle it. The other thing I would worry about when re-introducing it (or any other "problematic" food/drink) is that it can be an enabler to other foods we shouldn't be eating. While I drank Diet Coke on it's own, I also liked it with pizza, or Doritos, or chips, or pretzels, or... you get the idea. I've learned from my failure with my sleeve that that's what I have to be the most concerned about - not that having something once in a while will throw me off track, but that it will encourage me to try other off-limit foods once in a while, until it becomes a regular habit once again.

Hi please bare with me I’ll try to explain my best! so I have Medicare as my primary insurance and state medicaid as my secondary insurance. Typically I don’t get a bill bc the state insurance picks up what Medicare doesn’t pay. Well my surgery is approved by Medicare but the Medicaid is saying they won’t approve it bc they require 1 year free from alcohol/ drugs as I use marijuana for pain management that violates there rules. Typically I follow Medicares rules as they are the primary n the medicaid They would cover the part A Deductible and the leftover copayment 20% etc. I feel like the medicaid denial is based on if they were they primary which they are not. So I basically have no idea of I’ll have a huge bill or not. has anyone been through something similar?

Don't panic. You can get back on track. You were pretty vague. How did you fall off the wagon? Was it too much food, the wrong foods, alcohol? If you provide more detail, we can be more helpful.

Thank you for your nice comments. I do what I can, and it is not working too bad for now. For the smoothie, I take some watermelon I put in the blender, some ice (a few cubes) I add light cranberry juice and voila! I also do it with unsweetened peach ice tea. I like the combined flavors. Sometime I add a full peach in it. I try to avoid high sugar content fruits such as cherries or grapes. Mango juice was not a good idea as the flavor overtakes the watermelon completely. I tried to mix pineapple and light coconut milk. That makes an awesome alcohol free cocktail. Something else I do in the morning: I put an espresso shot in my chocolate shake with skimmed milk. Awesome Cappuccino !

I had VSG 15 months ago and have lost 100 pounds. I reached my surgeons goal at 6 1/2 months, my personal goal at 7 1/2 months, then lost another 10 pounds and have been maintaining in the middle of normal BMI range for over 6 months. And I've done this without weighing or measuring or logging a single bite of food. I followed my surgeons postop directions to a T, ate mostly Protein and veggies until I reached surgeons goal and have simply eaten a well balanced diet of protein, veggies, fruit and grains since then. I eat when I'm hungry, I eat until satisfied, not full, and I eat pretty much whatever I'm in the mood for....no planning or prepping whatsoever. I eat a lot of leftovers and my vacuum sealer had been awesome. I have a 30-40g protein smoothie and a 10-20g Protein Bar everyday and try to go for protein rich foods for the most part. I also keep a mental tally of fluids to make sure I'm getting at least 64oz/day. I do eat carbs and sweets and alcohol sometimes, but in moderation. That is the extent of my "diet" routine. I don't really think about any of it. I go to the grocery store and wander around the deli and produce sections and up and down the aisle, looking for what looks tasty. I pretty much stay clear of the bakery. Like today, I was taking a friend to a doctors appointment and afterwards she wanted to go to Sizzler. I, of course, overpaid for an all you can eat salad buffet, but it was delicious, I had a little bit of many different things, sticking with more Proteins (meatballs, shrimp, taco fixings without the tortilla, broccoli bacon salad, hard boiled egg, etc) than anything and then topped it off with some cantaloupe and a bit of bread pudding and ice cream. My friend meanwhile (who is 5'2" 105#...bitch????) had 2-3x as much from the salad bar plus a steak and broiled shrimp plus a whole brownie and ice cream for dessert. I, too have done the diet tracking/logging thing with the zillion diets in the past, and I knew I didn't want to do that after surgery. In fact, in my mind I was having surgery so I wouldn't have to ever do that again. There are many different ways of being successful with WLS, and it IS possible without focusing on every little food detail. For me, it's as simple as my sleeve restricts my portions and I make good choices (most of the time) about what I eat. Pretty simple.

I'm scheduled for 2/13/17. My first appointment was back on 10/13. After that appointment, I stopped snacking and drinking alcohol. I started using MyFitnessPal to track calories. I managed to lose a quick 30 pounds in two months. The first 30 lbs is always the easiest to lose and the quickest to regain. I figured that I'll lose the "easy" weight on my own and then get help from the sleeve to finish the job. I hope to have lost 50 lbs before the time of surgery.

Like you, I'm at goal, and I tend to find myself being a little obsessive about what I can and can't eat. Outside of drinking my butt off in college, I'm not much of a drinker, so I don't really have a hard time not having alcohol. I could, however, happily eat an entire bakery in one day. I only each chocolate around Christmas, or I will end up eating it way too often otherwise and I generally don't eat sweet stuff on a regular basis. I don't see a problem though with having something sweet and a glass of wine on special occasions. I had cake pops the first few days after my last plastics procedure, I have a few bites of cake when it is ordered at dinner events (a few times a year) and sometimes when I feel like it, I get myself a blueberry muffin from Starbucks. If anything my sleeve has helped limit my all or nothing mindset because I know that in theory I can eat whatever I want but I can only have a little bit of it so I'm no longer in danger of eating the entire pan of brownies. One piece and I am quite content. I think you should enjoy a piece of cake and a glass of adult beverage today. Life is about living and the few extra calories won't hurt you. Maybe add an extra workout into your day today as a way to offset the calories and to assuage any guilt you might feel.

The pain for upwards of month after, not being able to tolerate food or foods that I enjoy, diarrhea, vomiting, heartburn, no alcohol for 6 months to a year, no nsaids, potential gallstones, hernia , hair loss to name a few.

I have beer from time to time. I find it easier to drink than soda. It will sometimes give me the hiccups. Which is terribly embarrassing. Sipping one beer and HICCUP! Oh well. I just recently went to one of my surgeon's support groups (surgeon was not there). A patient going through screening says his nutritionist is now saying alcohol is ok 1 year post-op. I cannot remember what he told me this late in the game.

My doc said that an occasional drink is ok, after the first three months. In my nutrition seminar, the dietician cautioned that a significant number of bariatric patients experience a "transfer addiction" and replace a food addiction with alcohol.

Volly, Alcohol is fattening! Did you know there are like 600 calories in a long island ice tea? You can do what you want, but if you're going to drink, don't mix it with any kind of sweet fruit juice. Beer is really fattening. Go online and read the calorie content of these types of things so you can plan it in your day. For breakfast I almost always have a protein bar or a protein shake. I am having trouble getting enough protein because I am just not hungry anymore. Late night snacks for me are sugar free fudgcicles or sugar free popcicles. I hope some other people in here give you some better ideas. There was a thread in here asking the ages of everyone, and it seems like there were quite a few young people posting.

So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op? I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll. I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude. Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed. Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

Slider foods are high calorie high fat item which can still be eaten easily and in quantity after surgery. Some examples are as follows: ice cream, milkshakes, chips, candy bars, cookies, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, etc. I hope that helps

I can't tell you why people gain after reaching goal.....but I'd bet it has a lot to do with all of the things you listed plus a dozen more. All I know is that I have maintained within 4-5 pounds of my lowest weight for 14 months and I do it by eating healthy and working the plan every single day. I go back to basic Protein and veggies or even a couple days of liquid Protein "preop" diet if I pop even one pound above my range. I don't eat perfect every day, but I am proactive when I know I'm going to eat off plan and make sure I start any holidays, binge weekends, etc at the bottom of my bounce range. I have done this through the loss of two beloved pets and my best friends suicide. I've never felt more depressed than I am right now. But being a successful WLS patient is a priority for me and I've worked hard not to deal with my emotions through food and alcohol. Gaining my weight back would be oh, so easy. You just have to figure out how to deal with life and make the option of slipping back into old habits simply and completely unacceptable.

Right peeps, i've had mi blowout crap food and am chipped, Chinese and Indianed up - if i ever let em pass mi lips again, im sure i'll hurl! lol Anyway, a bit of alcohol this weekend then i'm getting down to a low fat/alcohol free diet in prep for going to Brussels. Hey Starsky, your large clothes will fit me in my next size drop so maybe we should exchange numbers and do a deal ;o) (Im a size 24 at the mo and want to get to a 16) Bev xxx

Hey I'm having band surgery with chris on may 12th and wondered if i could join the facebook group!!!! My name is Jo Henson... my facebook pic is of just me!!! My Big sis is Tee-bird so having it done with her!!!! What are the rules on alcohol after the op as well is it a complete no no !!!! i'm so excited! I have 7 stone to lose i think Hope it doesn't take to long!!!!

Hi kathy I know yours was nothing to do with alcohol and I really hope more than anything I havent upset you. It was just before you posted I was going through all the things that could go wrong and that was one of my fears. Hope you are able to breath more easily and are feeling better. J x

I think Ive lost another couple of pounds this week but not wanting to get weighed until just before op. I am doing alright with it sticking to things under 3g of fat per 100g as advised by Gary. Im also not drinking alcohol ie favourite tipple wine as I am partial to a few glasses at night but up until now not really thought of the consequences its doing to my liver. So now Im terrified Dr Chris will open me up and say not today love. your livers in bad condition and not give me the band:crying: I am desperate to get it over and done with. Jx