Rapidly Gaining Weight 2 Years Post Op Sleeve Surgery

[Fair2bslimLady 72]

yes thank you for posting this the sleeve is just a tool but its mind over matter and it looks hard but we have the power.

[makemyownluck 785]

I'm pre-op and have wondered about this, too. I'm not an emotional eater. I eat for the taste. I eat for the feeling of the food in my mouth. IDK, maybe I am an emotional eater? The term "emotional eater" seems misleading anyway - isn't hunger an emotion?

Anyway, I read your post and thought, "Ok, seriously, how can this be fixed?" Besides all the obvious boot camp answers that were given (which is sound advice, but maybe not quite what you were looking for), the only thing I came up with was hypnotherapy. Years ago, I lived in a condo complex and my downstairs neighbor was a hypnotherapist. I was so intrigued by this profession, and I asked him why people would get hypnotized. He said, "Oh, for pretty much anything. Stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, stop drinking, stop shopping, stop biting your nails... you name it, I've done it." I asked him if it worked, and his answer was, "It can."

He went on to explain that it's all about the power of suggestion. Being hypnotized doesn't erase your mind's natural response, it just substitutes a type of reaction. He said it doesn't always work forever, but you can be hypnotized more than once, and eventually, the habit/feeling/thought you're having won't be the natural response anymore. The more you can identify your triggers, the more you can tell your hypnotherapist what to suggest to you during your session.

Now, I get that this could all sound like a lotta ridiculousness. I would normally seek out a more practical solution in a situation like this. But I actually love this idea - maybe my neighbor was hypnotizing me at the time that he was telling me how well hypnotherapy can work. (lol - but now that I made the joke, I wonder if HE WAS!!) I just know that the idea still intrigues me, and it's something that I might look into if I see old habits creeping back up when I'm in post-op land. It's worth at least looking into, and I see no harm in trying it.

Anyway, I thought I'd share that idea with you. I hope you find something that works for you - and when you find it, let the rest of us know! Good luck!!!

[Mason 122]

One of the "limitations" of these forums for me is the terribly skewed selection bias in active membership. The most active members are preoperative and relatively recent postsurgical patients. Postoperative members hang around just long enough to report their continued weight loss and, then, after a year or so—especially if they are successful at keeping the weight off—fade away into the sunset. For the most part, active members with more than two years after surgery are still struggling, which is why they are still posting (staff notwithstanding).

The other problem is one of equivalence. The vertical sleeve gastrectomy as a standalone procedure is only a few years old and the procedure has been modified even within the past year (essentially, they are removing more of the stomach body now than they used to when it was the first stage of a two-stage procedure ending in RNY). I’m guessing that three- and four-year postsurgical patients, who have had less stomach body removed, find it easier to gain weight as their sleeves are bigger and a small part of the fundus is still intact (they would still feel some hunger pains although not as intensely as before the surgery).

We really need to hear from two- to three-year post-surgical patients who have been able to successfully maintain their weight loss. Specifically, I would really like to know:

1. What contributing role would you say your sleeve (reduced stomach) plays in your ability to successfully maintain the weight loss (e.g., 25, 50, 75, 90 percent)?
   
   
2. Related, how much conscious effort does your continued weight loss require? That is, must you deliberately monitor your food intake on a daily basis or does the restriction of the sleeve necessarily limit how much you can eat so that maintenance is relatively effortless?
   
   
3. How has your relationship with food changed, if at all? Related, do you still enjoy eating or, currently, is food just something you must consume to sustain life?
   
   
4. Compared to the type of hunger pains you had experienced pre-surgically, while on a calorie-restricted diet, how would you rate the degree and quality of your hunger pains now after the surgery? That is, do you still feel hunger pains and, if so, how is your hunger drive different now than it was before the surgery?
   

It occurs to me as I write this post that not one of the three surgeons I consulted with over the past 16 months had ever addressed any of these very critical issues with me. I’m guessing the reason for that is they simply don’t know the answers because they—at least the surgeons here in the UAE—don’t follow their patients beyond the three-month mark.

In fact, I think I will be approaching my surgeon after the procedure about collaborating on a research study of the qualitative and quantitative psychological and physiological changes experienced by VSG patients. These data would be far more useful to prospective patients than just knowing the surgeon’s fatality and leak rates.

I am not undergoing the expense and difficult postoperative recovery and effort involved in this surgery just to say “Hey, guess what guys, I’m wearing a 32-inch waist pants again!” only to be back in my 44-inch pants two years later.

I (we) really need to know what’s involved in long-term recovery and, specifically, what has changed (and why) for the 80 percent of all WLS patients who keep the weight off. After all, that and that alone is the reason I am going to pay a surgeon to remove about 85 percent of my stomach in less than two weeks. If this was just about weight loss, I wouldn't need the surgery. I've lost well over 300lbs since I was 12-years-old (over six distinct dieting episodes).

I can definitely lose weight without surgery, no problem. I just can't keep it off for more than a year or two at a time and I'm getting too damn old and sick to continue this cycle of yo-yo dieting any longer.

Not everyone on these forums has gained weight in the same way, for the same reasons (before or after surgery). Some suffer from eating disorders such as bulimia and are binge eaters. Some are “emotional eaters” and will knock down a quart of Ben and Jerry’s after a particularly frustrating day. Others, like myself, regain the weight back over time due to consistent overeating during normal meal times, that is, we eat more than we should at each sitting simply because it tastes so damn good.

For those with more than two years out who have generously and courageously shared that they are regaining weight, I would encourage you to specifically explain exactly what it is you are doing to regain that weight, i.e., how often and how much are you eating in one day? In this way, in addition to being enlightening and putting preoperative members on notice that it is possible to regain weight after being sleeved, the post would also be instructive in advising whether this issue is applicable to the reader.

For example, if someone writes "I'm regaining weight because I'm consuming 3ozs of leftover Halloween candy corn every 60 minutes, 10 times a day, to the exclusion of my Protein, I am personally not going to take this warning to heart because I have never engaged in that pattern of overeating whereas other members might be able to identify with that and learn from it.

[clk 3,519]

I respect everyone that came here to share their struggles. It's hard to post non-positive things here and it takes courage to admit when you're sliding.

I've posted at length about this in the past. I think that even when we tell ourselves before surgery that this isn't a magic fix, part of us will still want it to be one post op. It takes work to change. We are not fat because we eat too much. Okay, yes, we are. But WHY we eat too much is the real issue, not finding new ways to eat less so we can be thinner.

Far too many approach this surgery like a diet. Every one of us can lose weight with 85% less stomach. The challenge is to keep the weight off in the long term, and while the sleeve makes that easier it does not do the work for us forever.

I'll be 2.5 years out in January. I am currently five months pregnant, so I am also currently 18 pounds heavier than my goal weight. For me, there was a tiny bounceback - I set goal to 135, but had really hoped to hit the 120s as I'm not even 5'2" tall. That did not happen. My body LOVES the number 137. I can live at 137-139 pounds and not worry about anything I eat, and I will not leave that weight window even during my cycle. But the second I take it lower, it's a constant struggle and I have to be a calorie counter to keep those stupid two to three pounds off. So for me, I just have to accept that short of getting plastics, my body doesn't want to be 135 pounds or less, BMI chart be damned. That very minor issue aside, prior to pregnancy, for me, maintenance was very easy. And I have only gained fifteen pounds in five months of pregnancy, despite the fact that I eat about double what I ate prior, just because I really am hungry all the time and I have a larger capacity.

But there is a reason for that!

I spent the long seventeen months to goal learning how NOT to eat emotionally. Every time I put food in my mouth I tracked it, even four M&Ms. I made myself be honest about my intake because for me, this was the only way to stop excess. If I found I was eating more, or poking my head in the fridge more frequently, I asked myself why and learned to recognize emotional and boredom eating. This in turn helped me stop doing those things, for the most part.

I did not eat like I was on a diet when I could hardly eat anything at all. I ate a reasonable amount of calories and carbs instead of restricting myself to 500 calories and 40 grams of carbs a day. I did this specifically so I could learn to eat normally, in moderation.

I don't care how good your intentions are as far as eating healthy and making life changes go. The reality is that nobody here is going to live for the rest of their lives eating only 500 calories on a no-carb diet while heading to the gym for three hours a day. We cannot live that way long term. Sleevers NEED to use that first year to learn how to eat reasonably so that they can live at goal later. My tastes changed a lot and I enjoy eating healthier now and I choose to do it about 90% of the time. But I do not deny myself the opportunity to eat what I want to eat. I simply do it in moderation now. I could still get carried away if I allowed it to happen, I'm sure. But the point is that the desire to just stuff myself with junk food is completely gone. I don't even enjoy most of the foods that I once lusted over.

For some people, therapy is going to be a huge part of overcoming this obstacle. For some, doing what I did can help. I read books about the topic. I read stories about regain here and on OH. I made myself focus on changing, even when it frustrated me and even when I really felt like I would go crazy from wanting food. Once the habits weren't habits any longer, it became a much easier journey for me and I reached goal in a very healthy state of mind.

For those of us that did bounce back a bit, or for gals like me that are pregnant and watching the scale go up, albeit very slowly, or watching their waistlines expand it's still a challenge. We are all afraid of failure. Nobody here opted for the sleeve as their first attempt to lose weight! All of us tried and failed, many of us for years on end, before opting to remove most of a body part.

I agree with a previous poster - there is no reason to start the negative thinking and the hate game with myself because I lose 90% instead of 100%. I cannot let the scale control me forever. If I have this child and cannot lose all of the weight afterward again (an issue I do not expect to have, honestly) then that's what my body wants at my age. I can only do so much. And I have come TOO FAR to let myself feel badly over a few pounds.

OP, thanks for the very real post. Anyone prior to surgery should read these types of posts. There are a LOT of them out there. Most of us more than two years out don't hit VST to read the forums every day, so sometimes you have to do some searching to find what we've said on a topic in the past. But getting this out there for people to read is only going to help people. Because surgery on your stomach is not going to fix what's going on in your head and making you overweight in the first place, and thinking this will be easy will lead to disappointment and possibly failure.

Good luck to everyone out there struggling. There is no reason that you cannot pick up and get back to your personal goals (assuming they're reasonable!) at any point after surgery. There was no magic window and your stomach at two years out is only slightly larger than it was at one year out. You still have restriction and if you use it like the tool it is, you can get back to where you want to be.

~Cheri

[*susan* 1,709]

For me, after being several years out, I have had to play around a bit and figure out what other tools work best for me and with my sleeve. In the beginning, I was adamant that I would never "diet" again. I swore I would not track food or anything else. I said I got the sleeve because I didn't want to have to diet. But, that was naive of me. Sure, it worked well in the beginning, during the infamous "honeymoon stage", but then I became three years out, life happened, back problems happened, family issues popped up and I turned back to my old comfort foods. I realized, especially with my somewhat limited mobility due to my back problems, I had to do something. So, I started experimenting with different weight loss programs. I tried mynetdiary, myfitnesspal, and several other plans. While those didn't work for me, I did come to accept that in order for me to lose and maintain long term weight loss, I was going to have to track every bite of food I put in my mouth. I just have to. And, I need a program that makes me think about what I am putting in my mouth as well, making sure I get the proper amount of dairy, fruits, veggies, etc. Even though it isn't free, good ol' Weight Watchers is the program that does all that and works for me. I am making healthier choices again and feeling so much better about myself.

I guess my point is, as former or soon to be former obese people, I believe part of that is accepting that we will always have many of the same issues we had that caused us to gain weight to begin with. So, we need to have a plan. Don't go with one because it is popular and all your friends are doing it, go with the one that works for you and that you can commit to. It is never too late to start losing again, you will always have the ability to lose and then maintain once you get there. You just have to be willing to do what it takes to get there.

Sent from my iPad using VST

[coops 1,790]

1. What contributing role would you say your sleeve (reduced stomach) plays in your ability to successfully maintain the weight loss (e.g., 25, 50, 75, 90 percent)?
   
2. A huge role! 100% I simply cannot over eat anymore - and more importantly I don't want to. It has given me to power to say NO! And that might sound a littel weird but having that physical restriction is an absolute for me. I am not 'really' an emotional eater, not in the true sense but I do sometimes turn to food for comfort when I am stressed. Lately I have been really stressed and I just can't eat what my stressy little brain wants me to... and that ain't such a bad thing!
   
3. Related, how much conscious effort does your continued weight loss require? That is, must you deliberately monitor your food intake on a daily basis or does the restriction of the sleeve necessarily limit how much you can eat so that maintenance is relatively effortless?
   Yes! I am very aware of the foods I eat; the quantity, frequency and quality. I now know my 'trigger' foods and foods that make me feel healthy.
   
4. How has your relationship with food changed, if at all? Related, do you still enjoy eating or, currently, is food just something you must consume to sustain life?
   I still enjoy my meals, and because I don't stuff myself, the taste and satisfaction is a lot better. I eat to live not live to eat. Before the sleeve I would have huge portions because it tasted so good and then I would feel so bad, and beat myself up ... now I still enjoy the taste without the guilt. At 2yrs 5 mths out I can eat the maximum of 8oz (I still occasionally weigh my food and always, without fail, use a small plate). I did monitor my intake on an ap for my phone, but I haven't done so for a few months now.
   
5. Compared to the type of hunger pains you had experienced pre-surgically, while on a calorie-restricted diet, how would you rate the degree and quality of your hunger pains now after the surgery? That is, do you still feel hunger pains and, if so, how is your hunger drive different now than it was before the surgery Hunger pangs have returned a little, but in comparison to before they are minimal. I get a little gnawing in my tummy now. The biggest sign of not eating for a long time is a headache - If and when I do feel hungry and it is not a 'meal' time, a small snack or hot drink easily gets rid of it.
   

I hope this helps... Like I said, I am over 2 yrs out now. I never reached my surgeon's goal and I have been in a stall for over a year. Despite what I do or do not do, nothing changes on the scale and please believe me when I say that I have tried everything to shed the last bit of fat. I get so frustrated by this and at times I feel like a complete failure even though I have lost 74lbs.

I am just 10lbs off my surgeon's goal and 24-28lbs off my ultimate 'when I was a young woman' goal.

After reading this post I realise that my situation is bitter sweet as I haven't regained. I bounce between the same 3-4lbs and have been doing so for 14 months now. Perhaps if I had of reached my goal then I too would have regained? I don't know? It would seem that my body has chosen its own goal! My body is in complete opposition to my brain am at the stage now whereby I am getting bored of the whole 'losing weight' thing. Due to the lack of 'success' over the last year I have started to feel a little apathetic - I am working on this as I don't 'do' negative!

I have to say a big thank you to the posters on here already - they have made me think of my situation in a different light.

Good luck to everyone who is struggling at the moment... keep on keeping on and never give up! (cliched, I know,,, but so true!)

[Mason 122]

A tremendously big thank you to the "old-timers" who shared their bi- and triennial experiences with the sleeve: Cheri, Susan, and Coops! Cheri and others have also been very generous with their time via personal messages.

The end result of all this great anecdotal evidence for me has been reassurance and relief. I have never been a between-meal grazer and I don't anticipate becoming one after surgery: my problem has always been Portion Control, overeating simply because everything tastes so good. From what many of you have told me, the sleeve is an excellent solution for this kind of problem eating. It's considerably easier to eat less when you don't have the hunger-producing hormone ghrelin coursing through your bloodstream and your new stomach's capacity is 4 to 8 ounces.

I think the more realistic one's expectations are about the long-term effects of the surgery, the more successful one is likely to be. It is very revealing to me that not one of the three surgeons I consulted ever mentioned the long-term need to monitor food intake years after the surgery. They sell the procedure by showing you a chart of how much weight you can expect to lose the first three to six months with the unspoken inference that the future will just take care of itself. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work that way.

As I have shared with others via PM, I don't mind the idea of having to be on, for example, Weight Watchers for the rest of my life just as long as I get results. My last time on the program, from June 2011 to January 2012, I followed the program religiously and walked virtually everyday on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes. With all of that, I lost only an average of just under one pound (.5kg) per week. My doctor was thrilled with that consistent and moderate loss but, from my perspective, it was very slow going. I worked my rear-end off (having gone to sleep with hunger pains on more nights than not) for eight months to have lost only 26lbs or so.

Then, in January 2012, I had complications from eye surgery and was visually impaired for 10 solid weeks (I could read a report by holding it up to my face but I couldn't watch TV, I couldn't drive, and I couldn't make out the faces of people around me). Within three brief months after my eye surgery, I had gained back half the weight I had just worked my butt off to lose. It was at that point that I privately conceded to myself that I needed more than just dieting and exercise.

I will have my surgery in 11 days and I believe I am ready physiologically, mentally, and emotionally. The surgery won't be an end-all, cure-all but it will make it a lot easier for me to follow a program like Weight Watchers without having to grit my teeth and bear down every night from hunger pains. The absolute to relative loss of the hunger drive alone will make the surgery worth it to me.

For those who are still struggling, maybe you need to thoroughly mourn--in the true psychological sense of that word--before you can successfully move on. According to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. Conduct an Internet search on Kübler-Ross, take a look at the definition of each of the five stages and it won't be difficult for you to immediately recognize the applicability of each stage to yourself in the context of how one's postsurgical expectations regarding the sleeve can be feeding (pun intended) denial, anger, and depression.

Writing entirely for myself, if I secretly hoped or believed that paying someone thousands of dollars to remove 85 percent of my stomach would be the end of all my food problems for life and it didn't turn out that way, I would definitely feel cheated and I would be angry as hell. Knowing myself the way that I do, I would continue to bargain with myself every day in regard to what I should or shouldn't be eating and I would be wrestling with anger and depression until I finally came to terms with the fact that I will never be able to eat the way that I want to and stay thin at the same time. That is a painfully difficult realization to accept yet it's absolutely essential for maintaining weight loss, even after the sleeve.

Of course, the good news is that with a new stomach that is only 15 percent of what it had been prior to surgery, it is going to be a lot easier to lose the weight I need to and to keep it off once I allow myself to mourn what I'll never be able to do. In fact, that's really how I've been preparing myself emotionally for this surgery. I have been actively grieving and mourning my old relationship with food to the point of tears.

I won't lie and write that I am not going to miss eating food the way that I had for 58 years. Of course I will, I know that. However, I have gradually come to accept that I will not live to be 60 unless I make some very dramatic changes. My father and mother died at ages 62 and 61, respectively, from obesity-related cardiovascular disease and I don't want to join them, at least not for the next 30 years or so. I have a lot to live for.

Thanks again to everyone and wishing those who are still struggling a speedy recovery.

[doxieville 799]

Both my NUT and SUR made it VERY clear to me that I would have to be diligent and live a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. Both had stories about people who had lost the weight but didn't keep it off. One day while waiting for an appt w my NUT I saw a woman who had gained back 50 pounds about 2 yrs postop. She had in her hand a huge starbucks coffee (don't drink it so I don't know the lingo) with all kinds of writing on the side. While in the waiting room I casually asked her what she was drinking. I can't remember it all, but she told me that it wasn't 'sleeve approved' and had gotten addicted to them again and was gaining her weight back. It was really sad. Addictions can grab ahold of any of us and we can fail. We need to realize that we have to work the program. Forever. In whatever capacity that means for you to be succesful.

This is why it drives me nuts when post-op people on this forum post that they aren't eating because they 'aren't hungry' but are still losing weight. That not feeling hungry won't last, and when hunger does come back, they won't have learned anything about changing bad food habits. That doesn't seem like success to me. Sucess is learning how to use food to live a happy & healthy life. And that does take work! This isn't the magic cure that so many people are expecting it to be.

[Supersweetums 1,164]

This is a great post and I love all the input. I took a stance similar to Cheri's. I did not want to diet for the rest of my life, and I don't. However, that does not mean that I did not change what and how I ate. I never tracked, I never followed extreme diets after my surgery (super low cal, super low carb, etc.). What I did do...cut out the bad carbs (ie.the white stuff). I see no justification in cutting out an entire food group like fruit because it is higher in carbs. I also learned to make better choices. So when I take my kids to McDonald's (let's face reality, it is going to happen), I order a salad with grilled chicken and with no dressing or a grilled chicken breast sandwich and don't eat the bun. Will I have some fries? Yes, but I eat my other stuff first and then only have 5 fries and stop myself. For me, it has really come down to learning how to eat and moderation. I am a firm believer in that you have to make healthy changes that you can live with for a lifetime.

I also know that I am an emotional eater. And I also know that I am a hormonal eater. I can tell when I have had a bad day, when I am stressed. All I want to do is eat. I still struggle with it, but the way I have found to combat it is to not keep trigger foods in my house. If it is there, I will eat it. The sleeve has not given me more will power. I have to make a conscious effort everyday to make the right choices. I was also a slow loser, which I think also forced me to make better choices. If I didn't, I knew I wouldn't lose even with the sleeve. It took me 18 months to reach goal. I am now 2 years post op and I have been maintaining my goal for 6 months now without many issues. I do feel I am doing something I can live with forever without feeling deprived.

I think, like so many others have said, is that too many people go into this in one of 2 ways. They think it is the magic cure. They will still be able to eat however they want, but because they can't eat very much, they justify it..."Well, I can only eat half a hamburger". If you don't not take the steps to change your relationship with food, you will struggle in the long run. Trust me, there are a lot of foods out there that you will be able to eat a lot of, ie:slider foods. Sure you can only eat 5 chips not, but 2 years from now, you will be able to eat a whole lot more. And if you don't take control right from the beginning, you will find yourself stalling or gaining later on. Then there are the people that go to extremes. I am all for healthy eating, but I knew that I could not go the rest of my life never eating ice cream, or eating less than 20 carbs in a day. All you are doing is dieting again and it is bound to backfire. We are all human. And, unfortunately, we like high-fat, high-sugar foods. If you completely restrict yourself and do not build a healthy relationship with food, you might just end up finding yourself binging (we have all been there before the sleeve).

Am I perfect? Not even close! Even being 2 years out, I still struggle with emotional eating. I still worry that I will re-gain. But I am working on it everyday knowing that I have this amazing tool to help me. But if I don't help it, it can't help me.

[LindaS 316]

I'm not yet two years out, but I am almost a year and a half out, so I thought I'd take a stab at answering these questions.

1. What contributing role would you say your sleeve (reduced stomach) plays in your ability to successfully maintain the weight loss (e.g., 25, 50, 75, 90 percent)?
   
   • As far as losing weight, I don't think my sleeve is involved at all. I'm not losing because I'm sleeved any more. I have to work at it to continue to lose. Weight loss isn't happening just because I'm sleeved. In the early days, I would jump on a scale and have a 5 to 10 pound loss in a single day no matter how I ate. Now, I have to work my butt off with eating and exercising to show even a half pound loss.
     
   • As far as controlling my eating, my sleeve is 100 percent involved. It is why I can eat less than 800 calories and be satisfied. It is why I don't want to eat bread and potatoes any more (something I loved before surgery). The sleeve is why I can diet and eat smart.
     

[*]Related, how much conscious effort does your continued weight loss require? That is, must you deliberately monitor your food intake on a daily basis or does the restriction of the sleeve necessarily limit how much you can eat so that maintenance is relatively effortless?

• I do monitor my food intake on a daily basis, but it is because if I don't monitor it I find I don't get my minimum Protein intake in. I also found that monitoring helps me make good choices. A cookie sounds good until I look at the nutritional information and realize that it doesn't sound 160 calories good. The restriction on my sleeve helps me control my eating but monitoring calories and protein help me stay on track with my eating. I can eat whatever and feel restriction, but monitoring makes sure I get what my body needs. I have been tracking my food using MyFitnessPal since just before my surgery, and I've only missed one day in all that time. I am currently at 380 some days of tracking. Personally, I plan to monitor forever. I don't want to stop.
  

[*]How has your relationship with food changed, if at all? Related, do you still enjoy eating or, currently, is food just something you must consume to sustain life?

• Food wasn't an important part of my life before. I didn't obsess about it. I did make bad choices and would forget to eat. My problem was I didn't move enough. I also liked high carb foods (potatoes and breads). My relationship with food hasn't changed other than I tend to only eat a bite of potatoes and breads when before I would have much more of them. I have made sure that if I am only going to eat a half a cup of something, it is going to be a half cup of something that tastes good. I have a much lower tolerance for just-ok tasting food. My MIL also had this surgery, and food for her was much more important in her life. I've noticed that it still fulfills the same role for her. She continues to plan her meals and make recipes and talk about food a lot, but she is talking about Protein Drinks and different shake combos. She spoke about being able to have mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving for weeks before hand. She is still on mushy food stage after surgery.
  

[*]Compared to the type of hunger pains you had experienced pre-surgically, while on a calorie-restricted diet, how would you rate the degree and quality of your hunger pains now after the surgery? That is, do you still feel hunger pains and, if so, how is your hunger drive different now than it was before the surgery?

• I don't feel hunger 95 percent of the time. I do still get cravings unrelated to hunger. I recognized that late at night, I tend to want to snack on something crunchy and salty (like popcorn). This is a habit not a hunger. I remember this from presurgery as well. I am trying to overcome this habit. I try to keep some protein chips on hand to battle this. If I haven't eaten in several hours, I will get hungry. A few bites of something high in protein stops my hunger. The hunger is much less than before surgery. The other day I didn't eat until 12:30 p.m. I eat differently than I used to do. I found that just one bite can make me go from satisfied to painfully full. To prevent this, I tend to stop eating frequently while eating and wait to see how my last bite sits. I just wait for signals from my body -- can I eat another bite?
  

[Mason 122]

Thank you Linda for answering the questionnaire. Your responses were very helpful and their similarity to Cheri's lends additional support to the points being made on this thread.

If you don't not take the steps to change your relationship with food, you will struggle in the long run.

You are 100 percent correct about this but, let's face it, this is a lot easier said than done. For many Euro-Americans, including myself, food has become symbolically fused with love (and in many dysfunctional families, it was a substitute for love).

Related, the number one social activity that my wife and I engage in as a couple is using the 2-for-1 coupons in our Entertainment book to try new buffet restaurants! Obviously, we're going to have to find something else to do together besides dining out. Maybe I'll take up bowling again. Smile.

For those who are not put off or angered by Freudian psychology, there is an excellent book written by a psychoanalyst, Judith Viorst, called Necessary Loses. The entire premise of this book is that in order to grow as mature adults we do need to come to terms with letting go of the past. I am rereading the book as one way of mentally preparing myself for surgery as I know the sleeve will change my relationship with food forever.

Both my NUT and SUR made it VERY clear to me that I would have to be diligent and live a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. Both had stories about people who had lost the weight but didn't keep it off.

I think you were very fortunate to have such a honest and caring surgeon. I consulted with three surgeons in 16 months and not one said a word about long-term postsurgical dieting and nutrition--not a single word. They don't want to discourage any patient from signing up so the more mercenary physicians do present the VSG as a final solution to yo-yo dieting and that's a terrible disservice to their patients.

I'm very grateful to the OP for starting this thread because it has led to some very stark and necessary "mental realigning" for me.

[BrainyBabe 22]

Postoperative members hang around just long enough to report their continued weight loss and, then, after a year or so—especially if they are successful at keeping the weight off—fade away into the sunset. For the most part, active members with more than two years after surgery are still struggling, which is why they are still posting (staff notwithstanding).

***

This is so true! I have been perusing all of the message boards for long-term sleeve patients and haven't bee successful in finding too many.

Like you, I'd like to know how they've been able to maintain their weight, secrets to success, etc.

I had lapband surgery in 2002 and had it removed in January 2012. I've gained a little weight since then and am considering having VSG.

My greatest concern is my metabolism. When low calories become the new "normal" how hard is it to maintain the new weight? One's metabolism adjusts to the new calories, so I'm wondering how hard/easy it is to maintain the new weight.

Lexi

[GeauxForIt 659]

This thread is fantastic. I'm 7 weeks out tomorrow, and was extremely fortunate to have an amazing surgeon, PA & Nut. They all spoke practically and at length about this surgery being nothing but a head start on a healthy, LIFELONG change.

They were also brutally honest about the "honeymoon period" and the reality after it. It took me three years to get to the point where I was ready for everything this surgery meant for the rest of my life.

The posts from the veterans are invaluable for those of us just starting out, and I think I speak for all of us when I say THANK YOU!!!

[Fair2bslimLady 72]

I have to say that this post has to be one of the most valuable ones to me because its honest, I have always loved food and will and the sleeve will not take that away I just need to find peace with my eating and use it for fuel instead of pleasure, who doesnt love wine with cheese or a good slice of pie but do I want to look at my life with regret or do I want to know I have the power and can live a balance life. I get my sleeve in Jan and Im trying to find new ways of living and finding other things that can make me happy, I have to trade this addiction for another one that is healthy for me.

[Supersweetums 1,164]

You are 100 percent correct about this but, let's face it, this is a lot easier said than done. For many Euro-Americans, including myself, food has become symbolically fused with love (and in many dysfunctional families, it was a substitute for love).

I totally agree! That is why I mentioned that there are things that I still struggle with. And, to be honest, will probably always struggle with. But knowing you have a problem with food is a great help. I know I have trigger foods, I know I am an emotional eater. So I have set up my environment so that I can't rely on the food. If it was in my house, I would eat it! If something you love to eat is in the house, you are just setting yourself up.