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There is definitely a science to lifting/diet/sleeve. Wish I could say I have it figured out, but it is always being tweaked. You say you are lifting, what are you doing specifically? 1200 calories of what? When are you eating? If your surgery date is correct, you are only about 6 months post-op. Right now (only in my opinion) I would be focusing on losing the weight and trying to keep what muscle you have. You just cannot take in enough protein/calories to start building a lot of mass. Establishing the routine and habit is the most important thing. I used to lift everyday, but once I started getting into heavier weights, I needed more recovery time. So now I am down to 3 times a week. The other days I just try to get my steps in to maintain my weight.

Well, I need fuel for the workout and raw materials on recovery days. If you are lifting 5 rep max weights, I'd go every day same calorie goal. If you are still losing rapidly, workout day. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

Go out have fun and get rid Of scales ..weight falls off when it's ready not when you are...my body works without me monitoring it daily on scale ..i lost 50 in 2 years ..in my 5os. ..still down...now go have fun!

Whats my motivation!!! I am tired of being fat point blank period!!! I am tired of working out and getting frustrated when I only see 10-15 pounds and give up t gain 30 back..I have clothes with the tag on them when I lost 40lbs but I gained 40+ back... I want to cross my legs.. I want to look down and see my vag jay jay..lol.. Without having to hold my stomach... I want to look sexy in panties and bras.. I don't want to be ashamed of my body... I want to work and wind m damn hips during sex and not be tired after 5..lol.. Sent from my iPad using VST

I think that most if not all of us here can completely identify with your worries. It's hard for me to believe that I don't miss anything. I really can have whatever I want, just in small quantities at appropriate intervals. The weight loss is great but as others have mentioned it is the change in attitude that is so amazing. For me choosing weight loss surgery was choosing myself. And getting that appetite monster off of my back was the best decision ever. The constant gnawing thoughts of what can I have, what will I have next, etc. are gone. I am some one who benefitted from seeing a therapist for a while. I wanted a third party to go through the process with me. We worked on identifying my triggers and really breaking them down into very specific incidences. Prepping myself with food before a meeting or conference call, cruising for a little something as a form of procrastination, getting a bowl of ice cream to self-comfort then getting more because I knew I would be back to a strict diet soon......no more dieting. That didn't work for me. WLS has given me my life back.

First off, congrats on opening up. It takes a lot of nerve. I personally found it freeing. 7 months ago, I would never have told anyone my weight. Today, I practically shout it from the roof tops and I am still morbidly obese. You know what has changed the most...my attitude. I found that when I opened up to people about it, I found so many other people that were also struggling. I found that I had a lot of support and that really helps to make everything else easier. Its hard to pass up the pizza and pepsi, but the compliments I get from people satisfy my so much more. I think its important to get to the root cause of your initial weight problems. Why do you turn to food? Take a deep look at this and see the real reasons. It may even help to talk to a counselor about it. So many people struggle with food issues and don't know it. For me, it was a control issue and the fact that I grew up poor and couldn't have things, so as I earned my own money, I could spend it. I could justify spending it on food, because we had to eat. That problem continued into adulthood. When you figure out why you have a problem, it will be easier to move on. Also, you need to really ask yourself why you want to have surgery. Why now? Be honest with yourself (and others if that will help you) and make sure you are ready to change your life. Most insurance companies require a supervised diet program. Take that time to make sure you are well informed on all the aspects of your surgery. Also use that time to start changing your habits. Ween yourself off the fast foods and sugar now, so you don't go into a state of withdrawal or shock. Start exercising now. It will make everything easier for surgery. I am not trying to sound harsh. I weighed 295 in September, possibly more before, but that was the first time I got on the scale in almost a year. On the morning of my surgery I weighed 263. Now at 23 days post-op I weigh 241. We all got overweight for a reason and we have to really be willing to change for surgery to work. I am here if you ever need to talk. You can do it.

Hello JWRN; I have not had my PS as of yet, like you I am searching for that perfect Doc. In my search I have found a Doc in Nashville, I am impressed with his staff and I havent even been to see him yet. He is associated with Vanderbilt. I sent him an email with questions about his experience with weightloss patients and he responded personally very quickly. I am going to him for a estimate in the next few weeks. Here is his response from my email: Laura, Thanks for writing. I do have experience with weight loss patients and would be happy to see you at any time. My consultations are free and it wouldn't hurt to see you early. This would give you an understanding of what to expect and get an appreciation for the timing of procedures. Please feel free to contact any one of my nurses (Sally, Nan, Sandra) at your earliest convenience. Our office phone number is 165-327-7407. I hope this was helpful. We are looking forward to seeing you in the office soon. Sincerely Stephen Davis, MD I don't know if this helps...... good luck.......If you find some other great doc in Nashville, I would love to know. Laura

This week there is a new season coming. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere you welcome Spring,if you are in the Southern Hemisphere you will be greeting Autumn. How do your exercise plans change so you can better reach your Weight Loss Goals? [emoji563] Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

theoretically, yes, but it doesn't work that way for everyone. There are obviously other things that factor into this - because I have to eat well below my supposed BMR to lose, let alone my supposed BMR + activity level. there is a test you can take to get your actual BMR (as opposed to using one of the online calculators). They have you breathe into something. I don't know how accurate those are - but probably moreso than the internet calculators. The easiest way is to just experiment with different calorie levels and see where you maintain and where you start to lose. It took me awhile to figure mine out - it was just trial & error. I was eating 800-1000 calories from about eight months out to around the year mark. After one year, I was at around 1000-1200 and still (S-L-O-W-L-Y) losing. I've been in maintenance for the last 3.5 years, and I figured out I could maintain it if I stayed within a 1500-1700 range most days. But this might be different for you. The best way to tell is just to experiment with different ranges and see what happens. are you losing weight at 800-1000 now? Do you want to, or do you want to stop losing and maintain? P.S. if you start playing around with different calorie ranges, you really have to do it for two or three weeks to get the full effect. It may take that long to see to the effects on the scale. If you want to lose weight but the scale hasn't moved from whatever range you're working with at the time, then you'll need to go a bit lower.

Hi, Lady... I'm going to make this simple enough for ME to understand it. But I'll find a link for people who need that kind of info. You know how the Gastric Sleeve just makes the stomach smaller and you lose weight because you just can't get any more food IN? Well, that's the "upper half" of the DS, aka the Duodenal Switch. The "lower half" involves, essentially, rerouting your guts such that food goes down one pathway and "digestive juices" go down the other and they don't meet up until about the last 100cm of intestines. So, on the top half, you just cannot hold as much food as you once did. On the lower half, not all of what does get in gets absorbed. Generally, only about 20% of fats and oils get absorbed. So I can eat steak and eggs and bacon and have LOTS of butter on my gluten free pancakes (many of us do better with gluten-free carbs post-op) and have a cholesterol of 130, but...unfortunately, I absorb ALL of the carbs I eat, so I CAN get fat from living off of sugar. And, there are nutrients in the foods I don't absorb...which means I'm not absorbing those nutrients from my food, so I have to stay on top of taking supplements. Religiously. And having blood work a couple of times a year, at least. Religiously. In spite of that, I feel quite fortunate to have learned about the DS...another name for it is Gastric Resection Duodenal Switch. There are only a few doctors who do this surgery. And many who don't, badmouth it. But it is the malabsorption that this surgery proveds that has allowed me to weigh what I do. (Malabsorption is the GOAL of the DS. It is NOT malnutrition. Malnutrition is what happens when you don't have needed blood work and don't take supplements. They are essential.) Here's a link: http://www.dsfacts.com/ If there is someone here who is having a terrible time with the band, I hope this might help them.

We are the exact same height and starting weight! How are things for you now? Any more success? My goals have been smaller weight loss increments, I think its more encouraging to Celebrate smaller victories.

ok so yesterday i went in to get another fill. my last fill was 7 weeks ago and it was my first fill. i have a total of 3.5 ccs in my band now.. n e ways i wanted a new fill cuz i gained 3 pounds and the weight wasnt really comming off.. it felt like i needed the fill to start loosing again.. well i went in and my doctor shut me down.. basiclly he said that i was doing very good. he said i shud be happy wit my weight loss cuz i lost 50 pounds since my surgery which was 3 months ago.. i told him that im just really serious about this and i want to loose all of my weight asap.. aahhh... basiclly he said no fill and get my ass to the gym.. let me remind u that these was his exact words... haha military doctors rule..

Hi Bandsters! I just joinned today! I've been doing alot of research on the procedure and after struggling with it I decided last month to get the band :Banane37:. This is against the wishes of my mom, best friend and rest of my family. But I know whats best for me. Soooo...I've completed all my tests and evals and am now waiting for insurance approval. Anyone have any exerperience with getting approval from United Healthcare? I didn't go through a six month WL program but had alot of Dr's recommendations and paperwork so I'm hoping for the best since I have a WHOLE lot of weight to loose! P.S. I'm exited to be here!

Hi I had my lap band in March of last year. I have had many of the same struggles even throwing up blood. Had my band checked to see if it had slipped nothing. So i had some taken out and started weight watchers also. I couldnt eat enough points. So i have just tried to start over with protein drinks and what food i can eat i eat slowly. There is a good book out there to read Weight Loss Surgery by Robert Swewell and Linda Rohrbough. Please feel free to e-mail me at jcolell@msn.com because you sound just like my story.

I agree with you, Justin. That's one of the reasons that I haven't shared the fact of my surgery with anyone except my family and my closest friends. This was a difficult decision for me. I really don't need anyone else to judge it. Lazy? I've worked harder at diet and exercise than just about anyone I know. I've lost weight lots of times. I'm also not stupid. There comes a time to recognize that you need a little extra help. To ignore that fact is to invite heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc.

Ok, went to info session this morning and then had my first appointment with the surgeon. He is recommending the gastric bypass instead of the sleeve. He says GB is the "gold standard" and has been around the longest, people lose the most weight with it, almost immediately can come off metformin. Any one else had this experience?

Be sure to go in and edit and add your weight at that pic so when you post your update we can say "HOLY Sh*T Mamacita!!

hi all. i didn't know where to turn so i came here. We found out less than 10 hours ago that my husbands SA came back with a zero sperm count...zero how can it be zero?! i am a mess. they called my phone while i was at work and i had to leave early for i could not function. i cried for three hours before my husband got home...i didn't know how i was ever going to tell him.He was diagnosed with low testosterone about four years ago and has been doing hormone replacement therapy this whole time. We have been through a lot the last three years with him also having an 'unknown' illness and we got that taken care of about six months ago and decided it was time to ttc. Now i don't know if that will even happen. he wants a child of his own so badly. i am afraid that this is going to send him into a depression. two yeasr ago i found out i had pcos and was told that i needed to lose a lot of weight. So i had the lapband and have lost about 80 lbs and have my pcos under control. its like now i dont know what to do..my life has been consumed and focused on having a baby... i cant stop crying. we go see our obgyn on friday to get a referral and she wants to go over our counts in person. i am not functioning very well right now and feel so overwhelmed and sad. thanks for listening... trish

I'm beyond open with my son. I was a single mom before meeting and marrying my husband so it was just me and Lil C for over 8 years. He knew about my band surgery, he knew about my mom having lapband surgery in 2007, and he knew about my revision. He knew I hated being fat, he knew I hated shopping, and he saw me struggle for years with my weight. Heck, I drug his happy hiney to Weight Watcher meetings, and he had "different" dinners than I did off and on because of all the diets. My son is a worrier as well, and I just told him I was doing this so I could live longer, and not hurt when I walked. He saw me take "breaks" when we ventured to the mall. I couldn't play outside with him when I was fat, and playing baseball with him is something he wanted me to do. However, I could never play for very long. My son is 11, and he's embraced my wls journey. He knows that is not appropriate to discuss what happens in our household. He doesn't talk about my surgery or anything else that goes in within our family. I told him before my band surgery that if I talk about it's because I want to share my experience, but it's my experience and not his to share. It might not work for everyone, but I don't think keeping things from my child is appropriate. I want him to know that I'm open with my life, and in return I have found that he is super open with me. It's just our relationship. The best thing about the entire process is that he is so supportive and really helps when it came to my super tough recovery. Even now, he's a trooper when it comes to sharing Entrees at restaraunts. I even showed him VSG videos from youtube.com because he's a pretty inquisitive little kid, and showed him several pictures of the actual surgery. Information, and educating him on what I was going through really helped him understand it.

Laura - isn't that amazing - for the first month after my unfill I would get on the scale and every day I'd be up 1-2 lbs - every freaking day no matter what I did. I can't wait to have the VSG done - this extra weight is horrible - I don't understand how I lugged around the whole extra 100lbs???

Hi again. Yup the 50lbs came back off pretty quickly after my surgery. I tried to be careful and watch what I ate but the pounds just packed on. My husband was amazed how fast it came on. We were both dieting and he was losing and I was gaining. Hang in there. It will get better. Take a walk now and then and DON'T stress eat! Laura

Lettuce compare bad dates ( NOT the fruit) Current mood:Sylvan Category: Blogging So, before I get started I have 2 important announcements: 1) - Our newest blog friend, Misbehaving ( I assume everybody has met MB and read his blogs? M, I'm talking to you.....don't be shy......he writes good stuff) pointed out that I've totally ignored my tradition of dedicating a blog to the newest kid on the block, so to speak. This blog is dedicated to you, MB (although the "honor" may be a little dubious). 2) - This blog has been blatantly inspired by MB's latest. Ciss kinda went into it in her comments, and I realized that the story has to be told. In all of its ugliness. To really understand how I got into this mess, everybody needs to understand 2 things about me ( side note- Is this "2 things" a recurring theme? I don't know, my friend.....I don't know): I have trouble telling people "no", and I'm waaaaay too nice. I understand your skepticism, but it's true. The "dog-eat-dog" atmosphere of Atlanta High School was so oppressive, that I had gained a reputation as a "really nice guy" (no better way to get laid in high school, right? yeah) by doing nothing more than NOT insulting people to their faces. Apparently I'd also, by my junior year, captured the attention of a senior lass (Her name is ****). Her father and my father were......not good friends, exactly, but......they knew each other really well. Throughout the year I had avoided going to ****'s Halloween party ( She told me "I'll be wearing a toga"), ****'s Thanksgiving party ( "We're gonna play seven minutes in Heaven"....I didn't know what that was, but I didn't like the sound of it), and ****'s Christmas & New Year's parties ( I knew all about the hazards of mistletoe and 12:00). Spring was rolling around fast, though, and so was prom season. At my house, hints were getting dropped that **** wanted to ask me to her prom. This was an actual conversation: Dad: "I saw Jerry ***** today." Me: "Really." Dad: "He said his daughter thinks you're a fine young man, and so does he" Me: "........." Dad: "He thought you might be a good date for her prom. She's cute." Me: "Dad, she's kinda ugly" Dad: "........." (sending out silent, powerful waves of disapproval) The very next day at school, **** cornered me and asked me to the prom. It was a little awkward, because we almost never spoke. I hemmed and hawed, but for every half-excuse I gave, she had a comeback (I cracked under pressure and couldn't think of a iron-clad excuse. Besides, I was trying to give her the opportunity to save some face, but she was having none of it). Finally, she administered the coup-de-grace: "I've already bought the tickets, and there's nobody else to go with...PLEASE?" Prom time. Everybody parked their cars at the high school and boarded a chartered bus to go to the big city of Texarkana. The whole ride down (about 45 mins) was incredibly awkward and silent. I didn't have any friends in the SR. class of 1987, and I didn't know squat about my date. Since it was a chartered bus, the chaperones were not exactly vigilant about screening for alcohol, and everybody was drinking like a fish (except.....somebody forgot to give me the memo. And I could have used a stiff drink). All throughout the night, I fought off a tipsy, dry-humping **** who was trying to kiss my neck. At one point, my date told me "You ought to take off your shirt and just wear your jacket and bowtie".....(WTF?!?). I declined. It was a looooooooong dance. The bus ride back was even worse. It was very dark, and the slobbery sounds of kissing seemed to be preternaturally amplified. I stared straight ahead, thinking how much of a good-night kiss I'd have to pony up to avoid being talked about. At this point, **** takes my arm, puts it around her shoulder, and for good measure, down the front of her dress. So now I've got a handful of boob (Another sidebar....as a commited boob man, that part wasn't so bad. It was just a little unexpected). It was time to man up and take one for the team, so I made out with her. Just for a little while. When the bus arrived back at the high school, **** and I went to my car (unluckily, like MB, it had bench seats. Because I'm a quick, quick learner, I planted my right hand firmly on the steering wheel). **** leaned over and breathlessly wispered "I don't have to be back anytime. My parents trust you....we can do anything you want.....". What I wanted to say was "Ok, then.....we're off to find some hot chicks". Instead, what came out of my mouth was "Er.....It's already a little past my curfew.....I have to go home". I thought that would get my point across. Wrong. **** was incredibly unfazed, saying "....Well, call me tomorrow and we can do something then". Wow.......I didn't call. Every so often for the rest of the year, My dad would ask if I'd seen **** around, or had heard from her. I would just look at him in stony silence. He got the message. Years later, Ciss and I saw **** at the local Super Wal-Mart ( the social nexus of Cass County) going grocery shopping. **** was loading her buggy up with frozen entreees. "Hmmmmm", said Ciss, "Dinner for one, ****?" It was the best and meanest line I had heard in a long time.

Find yourself a good support group locally, it doesn't have to be a surgical group a group like Weight Watchers or something will do. And get an accountability partner you can trust and confide in. And lastly, force yourself to record EVERY morsel that goes into your mouth. You can use a written journal using a calorie counter book or an online one. I use http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ , it's easy to keep up and I can do it from any computer. If you still cannot control your appetite then see if a mental health professional will help. It may be expensive but it may be worth it if you genuinely have food issues. Good luck and God bless.

Ok, so I had Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy last June and I've lost 70 lbs. I'm only 30 pounds away from goal. Here's my concern. I'm stuggling SO much to eat right & I've been at a stall for months now (since around October to be exact) Having surgery is just providing you with a tool to help you get where you want to be. But it is not magic and it does not fix your eating mentality. I am a food addict. With surgery or without. I find myself eating snack foods all day. I am not gaining weight, but this habit is preventing me from getting to goal. I feel like complete crap after eating junk food. I'm afraid I might stretch my tummy out again too. Is anyone else dealing with this?