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I've been past goal for almost a year now and my craving for food has hit the roof. I constantly think about food. Yesterday at church- food was on my mind. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about food. I eat 7-10 times a day, so I am eating constantly! [few bites here and there] My weight is not suffering because I have the band, whew! But, I think I'm going off the deep end. I have been thru many life changes this year, especially the past few months: mother's death 2 daughter's moving away-1 military move quit nursing school [moved] -I'm sure there are other things- thyroid problems just now diagnosed(although suffer for years-family history) So it's no wonder I'm suffering....but food is the way this is manifesting itself.

I gained 30lbs after my car accident too, but it was pre band and that was what started the process. I'd look at it as, ok I survived and accident that could have taken my life, but I'm still here and it's time to make myself even healthier. Go back to your band way of eating, see your Dr for a fill if need be. You did this once, you can do it again. Log what you're eating and stick to your plan. You survived and car accident, you can do this too! Glad you're back with us!

I had my surgery on 2/17/2015. I just checked my entries and I started back at the gym on 3/30/2015. I wanted until I spoke with my surgeon about being safe to go to the gym not only because of the physical exertion, but also because it is a hotbed of bacteria. I had a hematoma that had to be kept open and packed, so it took a while. When I was finally healed up enough to not worry about infections, I was told to do exercise as tolerated. I started doing only cardio, stationary bike, treadmill, and elliptical. Then I added light weights and simply moving my body around the core. As long as I didn't feel any pain, I would continue what I was doing or add something new. I have known the people that work in the rec center for about 7 years so I had no problem telling them that I had sleeve surgery. They recommended I start off on the ab machine so that I was using a lighter weight than my body weight. Now I am using the ball with a medicine ball in my hands held infront of my face to ensure proper posture while doing crunches. I don't remember what I started out doing, probably 30 crunches with 3 sets of 10. Now I am up to about 200 crunches a day. I also do oblique crunches to make sure I am strengthening all of my core and not just my abs. I have a little pattern that I follow. I start with the medicine ball and do ten "around the worlds" in each direction.Ball in left hand bring the ball behind you and pass it to your right hand. Bring your right hand around to your front and pass it to your left hand. Repeat 10 times. This is to keep my shoulders loose and to increase range of motion. I have to do this since I also had shoulder surgery and it is a hold over from my rehab days. Then I do 10 crunches on the ball with the same medicine ball held in front of my face. Next is what ever weight training I am doing that day. Shoulders and back, bi's & triceps, or chest. One set of whatever weight and then I go get a sip of Water from the fountain. This gives me the rest before I repeat the process and helps me hit my water goal for the day. On a shoulder day, I will do about 7 different exercises with 3 sets. In between those are sets of 10 crunches on the ball. Then I switch to the cable machine for 2 different oblique exercises. After I finish with the weight room, I go over to the cardio for 30 min to get a good sweat on. It took me a good two months to build up to that. I want to stress that I am not trying to build muscle though. Back when I was far more into weight lifting, it was all about muscle growth. I am only trying to stave off atrophy and muscle loss right now. I am not doing anything over 30lbs EVER! I am only 4 months out, you cannot gain muscle mass safely at this stage. Worry about gaining muscle and definition after you hit your goal. <edit> Woah, that turned out to be a book. Sorry about that, didn't mean to go all Steinbeck on you!

You should have 20-30g of whey protein within 60 minutes of a work out to preserve strength/muscle gains.

VerticalSleeveTalk Newsletter Hey Sleevers!It’s hard to believe, but summer is halfway over! We hope you’re keeping cool and getting a bit of rest and relaxation during these long summer days. Of course, we also hope you’re staying on track with your weight loss goals, too! To keep you motivated, here’s what you’ll find in this month’s newsletter. Sleevers Poll: What’s the Best Part about Weight Loss Surgery? Member Spotlight: Meet Fiddleman! Weight Loss Surgery in the News: More Possible Benefits of Surgery! Summer Reading: May We Suggest The Big Book? After reading the newsletter, Alex Brecher Founder VerticalSleeveTalk.com Sleevers Poll: What’s the Best Part about Weight Loss Surgery? Poll: Besides weight loss, what has been the biggest benefit since getting surgery? If you haven’t had surgery yet or if you just got it, what are you most looking forward to? Better health, with fewer medications and better reports from the doctor. More energy to do my favorite activities and keep up with friends and family. Clothes shopping! (Enough said). Self-confidence and pride in myself. food doesn’t rule my life any more! Something else – see my answer! Mark your answer and sleep apnea, pre-diabetes and hypertension, but wanted to be a positive influence to the people around him. His sleeve surgery was in July of 2012. His highest weight was 360 pounds, and he’s now lost more than half of his body weight to get to a weight of 175 pounds. Since getting surgery, he says he has a “new lease on life.” His marriage is the best that it’s ever been, and he’s more physically active and social, participating in cross fit, racing and yoga. SOme of his great moments include: Hitting goal weight of 180 during month seven after surgery Running an 18 minute 5k and a 37-minute 10K a few months of training hard every other day on his treadmill Being asked to model and tell his story for his Weight Loss Surgery Center web site Putting on medium size clothes and size 32 jeans, after wearing size 48 pants and 4X clothes. One of his biggest challenges was being active, but by now, it’s become a habit. Fiddleman says he logs a couple of hours daily on VerticalSleeveTalk.com to “read other people's stories and questions and to help others.” He also tries to learn from others’ experiences. He says that the boards help him stay accountable. His advice to others is to “keep calm and carry on. Follow the plan and resist the urge to cheat and sabotage your efforts. Temptation becomes less and less the longer you create a separation between you and a temptation. Always strive to feel in control of both your eating, drinking and fitness daily goals. Do not give up for the prize of a new life full of opportunities is worth the struggle. And lastly, share your successes with others. Success breeds more success.” Fiddleman, your success is amazing and a testament to your hard work. Congratulations on all that you have accomplished, and thanks for sharing your story and advice in our Member Spotlight! Do you like learning more about our members? We can’t do it without you! We need you to nominate members that you want to see featured in the newsletter. Nominate someone else or yourself in the meal plans for losing weight. Order your copy from Amazon or VerticalSleeveTalk.com! That’s all we have for this newsletter. We hope you enjoyed it and it inspires you to keep pursuing your summer goals. As always, feel free to contact us at any time. See you on the forums! Take care of yourself and each other. Sincerely, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: {unsubscribe}

My husband works for Rio Tinto and they have a rider on the insurance policy about weight loss surgery. does anyone out there have experience with this?

Welcome to the group your a young looking 49 year old how was surgery? What was highest weight? How much you lost? How much you set your goal weight to be?

So this is very random and really has no point but I wanted to share this. I ate a PB+Jelly sandwich (no crusts, measured) and had no blockage!!! Like my title says, I havent been able to eat one since my surgery almost a year ago. I know its time for another fill, havent had one in almost 5 months but I dont need them anymore. The band has given me that kick in the ass I needed to get a jump start at loosing weight and now its all me! Im glad I stayed true to myself and found the will. Thanks for reading... oh the small things!!!

Dietician instruction are just as different for maintaining as they are for weight loss phase. Glad you have a consult to dial your diet. My instructions. I was encourage to add low glycemic carbohydrates to slow/stop weight loss to maintain. Whole grains, Whole wheat pasta/breads, brown rice, sweet potato. ( nothing white or processed)(I don't tolerate brown rice well. I feel bloated and lethargic). She gave me a carb range to stay within. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/a-good-guide-to-good-carbs-the-glycemic-index I have always spaced out my meals to four to six smaller meals a day. My restriction with the sleeve was noticeably less after a year. Maintaining in year four, I eat protein fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, beans, dairy and low glycemic carbs. I still stay away from sugar and processed stuff. I indulge once in a while. My maintaining diet changes to three programs. I am female 5'5" and 130 pounds. Maintenance :1300 to 1600+ calories give or take. When I gain I am back to basics: 1000 to 1200 calories. I am carb sensitive I gain in a heartbeat. The weight comes off slowly. It's knowing your body physiology. Distance running: my calories and carb ratios increase to a range that I'm surprised I can get in. I got to goal doing elliptical and a bit of weight lifting. My goal was a 5K in memory of my mother. Checked that off my bucket list my first year. Each year I have increase distance. I used a sports medicine dietitian to learn how to fuel my body for long runs with a sleeved stomach. I'm curious to see what your maintaining plan looks like. If you don't mind, please post back and share it.

That's great! See you over on the post-surgery weight-loss forum!

Thank you jtickle. Congratulations on your surgery and the progress you have made with your weight loss.

Hi all. I have recently upped my workout to 2x a day because my weight loss has been very slow lately. I was in a car accident in 2001 which left me with some back problems. This limits my exercise options. Currently, I am going to the gym in the morning and riding a stationary bike for 5 miles and at night I walk the indoor track 4-5 miles while my daughter is at practice. I average about 13 mph on the bike and 16-17 minute miles. My calorie intake is between 800-1100 (usually right around 900) and Protein, Water and everything else is on target) According to the calculations I have, I should be burning 230 calories on the bike and between 280-300 walking. My question is with an average burn of around 500 just with my workouts, how the hell is the scale not budging? Do I need to change my intake?

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your dad too. Cancer really sucks!! Congrats on the weight loss too, 162 is AMAZING!

at two years out, she should be getting double the number of calories she's getting now (if not more - depends on her height, weight, activity level, etc) - unless she's super short or has really screwed up metabolism or something. 662 calories is only common in the first few months after surgery, not at two years out. re: the 10 lb gain, most of us gain 10-20 lbs after hitting our lowest weight, so that's not uncommon. It's almost expected...(not inevitable, but it happens to most people) protein - most of us are encouraged to get 60-80 grams a day. I need 100, but that's because we discovered early on that I malabsorb it - my prealbumin level tanks if I don't get that much. But I'm not the norm. 300 is crazy. No one needs that much - not even body builders. That's so weird that the app is telling her that!! you mentioned an RD - might be a good idea for her to see one to get some good advice and guidelines on what/how she should be eating. She may have some issues that we don't necessarily know about (like me and my protein issue....)

Something isn't adding up here. If she's getting in 109g protein, that's 436 calories right there. If she's only taking in 662 calories, then her protein would be about 65% of that. Maybe some misinterpretation of what MFP is reading? I can see that they might "recommend" 35% protein for her low calories - a typical normal diet might be 15-20%, and a bariatric weight loss diet might well be 50-60% (or more, at the beginning when we are eating little else other than protein.) 60-80g would be a typical recommendation for a woman with a sleeve, as there is no significant malabsorption involved, though some go higher than that as a means of avoiding "carbs", or under the false assumption that the extra will help avoid loss of muscle mass (it will to the point that one is actually working to build muscle mass, but the only thing the excess does, other than make expensive urine, is to avoid deficiency, but one doesn't need much extra to avoid that - the typical bariatric recommendations will cover it.) It does sound like a bariatric RD would be a good person to consult, and if she is truly only getting 6-700 calories and still struggling, then there may be some other metabolic issue going on, and some other appropriate specialist may be in order. But a good RD would be a great start in getting a good baseline of what is really happening dietwise. Starting at 400 lb, a sleeve is often somewhat marginal for getting to normal, particularly for a woman of that size (how tall is she - that's a factor as well in determining an appropriate goal and understanding metabolic issues.) You say that she recently moved cross country - where is she now - that can be a help in finding new specialists. It might be that the VSG is indeed marginal for her needs, and she really needs something stronger. A DS is a straightforward conversion from the VSG (as it uses the sleeve as its basis) and is typically the strongest metabolic tool of the mainstream procedures, so that is also a longer term consideration.

That makes sense. So far I have the opinion that this may be only a temporary thing. Anyone that gets it removed seems to put weight on at alarming rates. I want the lap band. I hope I will never have to have it removed.

Hi Ivy; Took this journey with many other SoCal sleevers and this is our hot topic of conversation at one year out. My disclaimer - none of us are too skinny and I mean that with BMI or health issues. None of us are non eaters - DUH or we would not have required VSG surgery. Your body will know when to stop, really. As Rootman said, you start to eat a little more too. There are about 6 of us in southern CA that support each other, each having different surgeons - all getting sleeved within two months of each other. One beauty has not hit weight loss goal at a year out (under 100 lbs to lose total) and still privately struggles since she has balanced out at "overweight" down from "obese". She would love to get down to a "normal" BMI range but her body resists. The rest of us are at or lower than we ever dreamed of getting in normal BMI range. Listen - we are all professional dieters on this site and know what NOT to eat to gain weight. Worry about hitting goal learning better healthy habits prior to surgery, practicing those tenants (eating healthy with proper calories, Protein, take supplements’ and Water) during weight loss phase and then worry about maintenance food still is a major part of my life, but my hunger no longer owns me. So, the glory of the sleeve is if you need calories, add healthy calories such as cheese, greek yogurt, extra slice of meat, a dab of guacamole or sour cream. YUM. Do not worry about anything other than hitting goal and learning new habits to create a new healthy you. I have no regrets, a mini miracle. Love my sleeve!

Allykat...so happy that you posted to let us know that you are doing better. Good luck to you and hoping you see weight loss results soon

I've had my band for a year now & I am really leaning towards La Madam's theory. I'm not sure there is a Sweet Spot. I have not found it & I've been over-filled, under-filled & everything in between. I lost the weight from hard work!! The band DOES help me to feel fuller faster, but I never really found a spot that helped me stop eating. I still felt hungry & wanted to eat. My weight loss has been slow & steady & I am thrilled with it. However, I gave up finding the sweet spot. This band is my buddy & when we work TOGETHER, I really do much better. :grouphug: Not sure I helped or not, but thought I'd give you my 2 cents.

Hi everyone I am new! I had my surgery on 4/16 and I am STARVING. I wish i had gotten the no hunger but I just feel miserable without being able to eat. Is there any remedy for this? Also, I am a worry wort, so when typically does the weight start to drop? I’m still at my surgery day weight. Last question- everytime I get up and try to do things like even walk to the car, I get winded, light headed and need to sit down. Is that normal? Thank you all!!

My surgeon doesn't have a recommendation for how many calories or carbs to take in. I eat sugar free and stay under 1000 calories per day but I am curious what I should be shooting for. Have any of you been told how much to take in to achieve the greatest weight loss? For the first time since surgery 3 months ago, I stayed the same in weight. I'm wondering if I need to count closer. I have lost 52lbs so far but don't want to slow down yet! Any advice is appreciated!

Alright fellow sleevers I'm ready for you to chime in your thoughts below on my VSG story. November 7th I started my liquid diet at 198.6 pounds. On November 14th the day of my VSG I weighed in at 190.6 so I'd lost 8 pounds in 1 week!!! Wahoooo!!! Had the surgery that morning out in Dallas, TX. Came back home to ATL, GA on Friday morning. On the following Tuesday (the one right before Thanksgiving) on November 22nd, I weighed in. I was now down to 177.6. Great Job for me! 21 pounds exactly. But heres where it gets very discouraging. I HAVE NOT and I REPEAT HAVE NOT lost any more weight since that day November 22nd!!!!! Had my first Doctor Consult with my surgeon on Monday January 2nd and still weighed in at 177.6. He was not happy with my weightloss either. He said I should have lost way more than 13 pounds since the surgery. He told me to cut out the Protein shakes/smoothies and just do my 3 tiny small meals a day. I am now doing hard core cardio workouts which is a bootcamp class 3 days a week and hitting the gym to do an hour long class 2 other days. So I am getting in 5 days of damn good workouts. I am so sad b/c today was my day to weigh in and it said 178.6!!!! WTF is going on with my body? Why has it let me down and have me regretting even shelling out $15000 for this surgery???? I am so lost and confused b/c I'm getting my Water in, eating my small meals and averaging about 600-800 calories a day like he said. Any thoughts or suggestions????? Confused, Amber

Drink drink drink. Have some water, protein water, protein shake or bone broth that has protein. Maybe head hunger? I’m the opposite and never feel hungry so I’m constantly forcing fluids down. I’m 12 days post op. Since they pumped air into you plus all the iv fluids you were on at the hospital your body is probably still trying to get rid of that fluid and you probably still have some gas in your tummy. You’ll start loosing the weight. I’ve been a slow loser but it will definitely start coming off. & being 12 days out, I’m still constantly tired and tire easily. It’s normal! It gets better every day. Rest & try to increase your activity daily. You got this! Don’t give up. It gets better.