What are your differences between Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3?

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

As I go into my 4th year of the sleeve I have recognized an evolution of my sleeve. Year One is weird, surreal, tiring, I didn't like food much, wondered if I would ever be able to drink coffee and wine again, as well as rice, Pasta, bread, etc. But it was also SO exciting....like WOOHOO!!!!!! Look at me!!!!! I'm losing so much weight. And the compliments were fast and furious. So it was these two ends of a continuum; one not so great the other thrilling! Shopping and sex was so much fun again! It was a true honeymoon!

Year 2 was also great and although I was at the top end of my goal, I thought for sure I would drop 5-10 more lbs that year because I was moving so much more! I had a whole new wardrobe and I never felt deprived or that I was on a diet. But I never lost any more weight.

Year 3 has been humbling. Still at the top end of my goal but nothing is coming off. In all fairness I won't say I am struggling to stay here, I eat what I want including wine and Cookies almost every day, but I am still around the 1000-1200 calorie mark each day. And when I have tried to cut back and lose, the scale is not budging.

I am writing my blog again and coming back here daily for inspiration and support.

And, I feel fat at 139 lbs!!! So what's up with that???? How are the rest of you veterans doing?

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Good topic, since my WLS was December 2011, my years fit calendar years pretty well!

2012 - I almost got to goal but not quite. It was also surreal, I felt a bit awful at times in the early months and it was so strange to have to eat like taking a medication, not because I was hungry. I also had to start facing some of the vulernerability revealed by my disappearing fat suit. I remember the summer of that year I felt so wonderful...I went hiking with my kiddo, wore shorts to the state fair. I was so proud, but when I look at those photos, I was still fat. By the end of the year, i was very close to goal and was starting to deal with "attention" and other strange events.

My theme for 2012 was single minded focus to losing weight during the honeymoon period - the year of committment.

2013 - hit goal in February - happy happy!!! That year was filled with so many new adventures, more hiking, starting dating and finding maintenance pretty easy....in fact I started getting careless. I was however FIT - workouts were intense and I was feeling like an athlete! Come about August I realized too many dates had added about 3 pounds so I started 5:2 and got down well under my goal! 2013 was filled with highs and lows...I decided to get plastics, got a new horse, but was in some ways a bit of emotional rollercoaster.

My 2013 theme felt a little crazy - so much changed in my life!

2014 - I was still maintaining quite easily under goal, but had a bit of a life upset and and lost my appetite. I lost 10 pounds (unintended) in about 3 weeks and at least i had the sense to get help. I spent a few months getting my feet back under me. By summer, I was feeling good, looking good, happy! I maintained at my new lower weight pretty well - but at the end of year I let myself get off track and by year end i was back to goal

2014 overall was a year of stability for me - no big changes, no surgeries, lots of fun but no important decisions.

2015 - so far... I am finding it surprisingly difficult to get back under my goal compared to experiences from previous years. My current weight is fine, but like most people I want a little cushion...What I notice is that "buckling down" is not really causing the pounds to drop but I am maintaining my goal easily. I am much happier with life as a healthy thin person, but it isn't always easy. Physical problems caused by a lifetime of obesity are starting to show up - joint issues in particular.

I am still working on my theme for 2015 ....

Edited January 28, 2015 by CowgirlJane

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

Good recap CGJ.....and yes, sadly I think we all did some unrepairable damage to our bodies when we were heavy. But at least we have a fighting chance now of staying at or under our goal!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Thanks for writing this ladies. In many ways its similar you your stories. In a nut shell:

1 year. slow but steady with a butt load of stalls thrown in for good measure.

did not quite get to goal.

2 year. Get to within 5 pounds of goal, then lost my way and gained to 22 pounds above goal. HUGE sad face! I took my eye off the ball... I started acting "normal" (eating without being accountable) I had a big eating vacation, to NOLA, I had an injury that kept me down for a few months, I had my mom in law visit for 10 weeks with happy hour every single day.

3 year. Tried several methods to get the 22 pounds off and reach goal. Georgia turned me onto the 5:2, and I managed to get to goal in year 3. Took up birdwatching, walking, kayaking and continued bellydancing... loving a more active lifestyle. Really enjoying dressing up. Half way through year 3, mom got sick, and a pile of not so nice things moved into my life, job, home, relationships, sick and old dear dog.. then mom died. I fell back off the wagon, and just hung on the best I could. My weight started going up again.... and emotional eating and the holidays collided. I finally managed to get the weight gain to slow down and stop.. I started getting the good habits back on track... put my fitbit back on, started using myfitnesspal every day, every meal, every bite.... and started fasting two days a week again regularly. Still a few things I could tighten up... but not to bad. Unfortunately, the behavior that got me through the last push goal do not seem to be working the same way they did the first time.. but I am only 7 pounds from the high end of my goal range, so really thats not TOO bad all in all. My skinny jeans are tight. My cholesterol is up. My Dr says lose the weight, but its going really slow. I know stalls all too well and its not putting me off my task, but its a chore. I consider myself a success. Peoples eyes still bug out when they see me... even after 4 years. I hope I can go the rest of my life this close to goal... I really don't know how easy that will be. If it gets much harder than it is now, I don't know if I can pull it off, but so far so good (without saying it was easy)

I just had my 4 year surgeversary on Jan 19th 2015.

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

Good information all....I think all the newbies should read this, but then again, don't want to scare any one away from not doing this because as we all know, this was our best shot to get where we are at now! And I just noticed...Feedyoureye....was your surgeon really Mohammed Ali???? I never noticed that before in all your posts over the years! Thanks for such an honest, heartfelt post, as always.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Mohammed Ali, yep! He is the Robotics Instructer at my local Teaching Univerity as well as the head of Bariatrics. He used a Rock'em Sock'em Robot for my surgery....

another thing of interest. When I was going in for the Surgeons evaluation for this surgery, he asked me if I would be happy with a 50 pound loss, that was his estimation of my final weight loss. I said yes, but would love to lose more and he said "some people do, maybe you will be one of them" So at 80 pounds down (goal is 87-90) Im still a big winner by his estimation.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I think this information should "scare" newbies a little bit. I don't say this to paint a picture of despair, as that is simply not the case. I say all this to paint a realistic picture.

According to my surgeon, I have lost 100% of my excess. That is better than typical for someone who started at such a high weight. Maintaining that, makes sense, is a big challenge for me. I spent most of my life obese or overweight so no wonder maintaining a "normal" size/weight is a challenge - but I have been doing just that for 2 years so far - a feat i have never managed before in my life.

One of the smartest things my surgeon ever told me was that years 2, 3 and on to infinity are nearly as important as year "1". I am finding there to be much truth in that and i am not sure most people are forewarned. I mean, it is one thing to say "lifestyle change" and it is quite another to turn that into daily decisions to maintain a huge weight loss.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I look at this thread and I reminded of all the people who post

I lost __Fill in the blank___lbs Gone Forever!

It used to make me so sad because I was one of the first people to join this board, revising from a band and I knew I had made the right decision. I lost weight right away because I got revised quickly when I started to have band problems.

All of a sudden, between year 2 and 3, I could not lose the little gain I had over the weekend. I was good all week long, ate all Protein drank my Water and the scale did not budge. Pretty soon it was time for the next weekend, and I gained 2 more lbs. Then the holidays came around and I was completely depressed.

I lost all my regain with the 5:2 plan rather easily. I didn't have a bf or husband, so I could plan all my meals the way I wanted.

All that changed when I got another bf. popcorn at the movies, him bringing home ice cream and donuts constantly etc and I am right back to where I was. I had back surgery in early Nov. and I have had complications from that, so I can't even exercise.

I am determined though. It's either take off some weight or go and buy new clothes. I refuse to give all my really cute and stylish expensive clothes to a thrift shop. I just have to gather all my willpower and stop snacking in the evenings.

I hate to say I'm glad other people are now gaining weight back, but i have to say it was so depressing to keep reading how everyone was getting full from 4 bites of food, and they have lost all desire for sweets. We can do this, and we don't have to do it alone!

[MichiganChic 3,262]

Great question and thread. In the beginning months post op, it's hard to imagine what this life will be like. As I've watched and felt my body change and my sleeve change, the realization has really set in for me. It continues to get harder, and there is nothing to make me think that's going to change.

The first year was really great, and I lost about 130 pounds. I was focused and dedicated, all day every day. I honestly couldn't believe my wild success. I had never been able to lose weight like that, and for the first time in decades, I wasn't starved and focused on food. I felt free. I was also surprised to learn that I didn't have some sort of psychological reason for my obesity. I never mourned food - just felt free.

In my second year, I lost another 10-15 pounds, but never succeeded in getting to goal. I fretted over that a lot. It was new kind of crazy for me. Nothing I did resulted in weight loss. To make matters worse, my blood pressure got pretty low and I was forced to stop taking a diuretic and immediately gained 15 pounds (lost 10 of it, but never did get that last 5 off). I was 5 pounds from goal when that happened. So that added to my fretting, unsure how much was Water and how much fat. I also really struggled with if I look fat or not....I don't trust myself to know. On one hand I think a size small/medium and 8/10 probably isn't fat, but I hate that number on the scale. I want that normal BMI, and so I vacillate between trying to achieve it, and accepting that perhaps I'm at a good weight. I also had two rounds of plastics during year two. Even after cutting 12 pounds off, my weight stayed the same. I expected that to get me to goal, and in theory, it should have. I feel robbed. And while all of that is going on, I've been finding it a little harder to be so restrictive with my food, and I feel that sense of freedom from food leaving me. I'm starting to think about food again, and I find that terrifying.

So now I'm a couple of months into year three. I'm still recovering from plastics, so I'm going to finish healing and then start trying to focus on fitness, which is something I have been not very faithful to. I'm just going to keep feeling my way in the dark, hang out here, go to my support group meetings, and give up the fretting. I'm surprised my family hasn't kicked me out and that I've not been banned from posting on BP - I even drive myself nuts with it!

Edited January 30, 2015 by MichiganChic

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Ha MichiganChic... you made me laugh!

It is another revelation to completely grasp that the number on the scale just doesn't mean that much.

I have a close friend that is 2" taller and 40 pounds lighter than me. OMG - how is it possible that I am not an enormous cow then? Well, she is underweight first off all and second, we are just built different - I have a solid atheletic build. I compared myself closely to ladies in the zumba and kickboxing class recently (uber small gym with huge mirrors!) and while I am not the smallest, I am surely one of the thinnest even though I have regained back to 158. I don't get it, but even I asked myself if I really looked better at 140 or if everyone around me was telling me the truth that I looked too thin.

So, stop driving yourself insane. Just change your goal weight. Or recalibrate your scale if that makes you happier! They removed 5.5# of skin during my plastics and it didn't show up on the scale either. I lost down to 140 about 6 months post plastics in a totally unrelated event.

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

So disappointing to hear that no weight loss has gone along with the plastic surgery...how can that be??? I'm schedule for April 13th for abdominalplasty and was so hoping for a few lbs at least...... :wacko:

[LSF 264]

As I'm approaching my revision surgery, I found this page fascinating to read because these are my fears - the future years with the sleeve since I failed with the band. I do have a question though - what is the 5:2 that you all keep talking about? Your stories have been inspiring and I hope I can be as successful as you. Lori

[MichiganChic 3,262]

@@CowgirlJane LOL! I am willing to lie to myself just a little to get to goal...I never thought about adjusting the scale! It would be a little like how I set my clocks ahead to prevent being late! I have a confession - I'm actually 5'3.5" - not 5'4". I rounded up to be able to weigh more, getting me closer to a normal BMI. I might be closer to 5'3', haha.

You are right about the scale revelation. I seriously think I'm just coming to grips with that concept in the past couple of weeks. I will never stop weighing every day, but at this point, the relevance is just to make sure I am within a few pounds of this weight.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Queen - some people do lose weight post plastics but alot of times you don't. At first it is the Water retention, and then at least for me my appetite went way up due to the metabolic boost. I was lucky to maintain my weight...haha. Some people get that metabolic boost and then for some strange reason don't get a boost in appetite. Also, I had to very limited activity for 6 long weeks... another reason I am sure that I didn't lose weight post plastics. What difference does 5-6 pounds make?

ife - I was a revision from band to sleeve. I had a band for 10 long years and never really did well with it but have maintained a very large weight loss post sleeve. There is revision forum that has alot of info and peoples stories. This forum is the sleeve vets forum. some people use 5:2, which is just an intermittant fasting technique, to get to goal, or to lose a regain. None of us encourage this for sleevers in their first year post op...

[MichiganChic 3,262]

So disappointing to hear that no weight loss has gone along with the plastic surgery...how can that be??? I'm schedule for April 13th for abdominalplasty and was so hoping for a few lbs at least...... :wacko:

Some people do lose. I agree, it defies common sense. In my case, I know some of it Water weight filling the spaces where the fat was. However, my measurements are smaller and my clothes are looser. Still happy I did it.