where are the people 5 years out

[oldmike 13]

not sure how to read or search for the folks that have been 5 years out and still happy and maintaining a healthy weight . do they drift off to normal land and not post on this site or do i just not know how to find the posts. i want to loose weight slow like maybe 50 in a year 75 by 2 years and 100 by 3 years is that unrealistic ? or does it just drop off fast . seems like everybody wants it to go real fast . i had the band in 08 and it never worked for me / now on this tuesday 8th i have band out and sleeve. looking for "comments from the old dogs"....mike

[JamieLogical 8,708]

I've only been sleeved for 15 months, so I am not as far out as you're looking for, but I will say that the rate of loss is pretty hard to control. I was a "slow" loser, but still reached goal (down 71 pounds) by my one year mark. Certainly, in the early days post-op, there is a real physical limitation to how many calories you can get in. You'll be luck to get 400 calories a day during the liquid phase. So you will probably drop a lot of weight then. Once you have more control over your diet and can eat solid foods, you might be able to get in enough calories to slow your loss. I personally tried to push myself up over 800 calories a day as quickly as possible, just because I felt like I needed that much to not feel tired all the time. Then I pushed up over 1000 so I could start more intense exercise. I reached goal 3 months ago and I've still continued to lose a bit, even though I don't want to anymore. It's tough to find the right balance and to increase my calories without resorting to eating/drinking junk.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Uh, yeah, no.

You're probably not going to lose like that -- but faster.

Early on, as your stomach heals (it's very swollen for several months post-op) you'll lose weight pretty fast. The first six months post-op are referred to as "the honeymoon period" when you probably will lose the most.

And then there's the penis issue: You've got one. People with penises lose faster -- they have more muscle mass, which uses up calories faster. Those of us without penises don't have that benefit / problem.

P.S. Not everyone is rushing to lose weight fast, fast, fast. I wasn't. And by Month 5 I was eating 1,000 calories, by Month 7 I was eating 1,200 calories. I hit my weight loss goal (150 pounds) at 8.5 months post-op. During the next 6 months I've lost another 12 pounds and am now maintaining at 138. Honestly, my guess is that if you have 100 pounds to lose that you'll lose the whole 100 pounds in 9-12 months.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

5 years out - happy- maintaining a healthy weight

@@oldmike

DOS

12/15/11

235 lbs

58 years OLD 1 month PO

present

138 lbs

eeeeek

62 years YOUNG in one month

4 year surgiversary!!!

i lost 105 lbs goal my first year PO

many others loose anywhere from 85 - +++

the past few months i am OVER goal by 8.3 lbssss

that weight must/will go down

it might take a while to loose those extra lbs

but it WILL happen sooner than later!!

i feel i am maintaining close enough!!!

but - i will take those last 8 lbs off - i promise!!!

weight does "usually" come off quickly, quicker post op

men also tend to loose weight quicker than women

not sure you can "plan" to loose small weight amounts as you are hoping for

are you hoping/thinking that you won't have as much loose skin??

loosing 100 lbs over 2-3 year time span??

following all the sleeve rules (which you should /must do)

you probably can't help but loose the weight in one year or 1.5 years (my opinion)

you "could" eat more calories than advised

i don't think that's a good idea

there are people that are are 5 years+

where have all the flowers gone??

i mean "sleevers" gone LOL

many are still around

5, 6, 7,8+ years!!!

they peak in when least expected!!

always give good advise

if i were any happier, i would bust a button!!!

healthy as a horse???

that too!! LOL

i am 4 years old

guess you can teach an old dog new tricks

good luck with conversion next week

kathy

speedy recovery

[Recycled 2,182]

Ok, I had a long long reply going here and hit a stray key on the keypad and it all vanished.......%^$#$##. Oh well, probably better off.....saved ya'll having to read all my rambling.....

Bottom line of what I was eluding to Mike, get it off while you can. Take advantage of all the conditions that help to lose it early on........Those benefits will fade.....and it WILL be harder later on to just maintain the losses. Having to continue to lose a year and farther out will be extremely difficult.

I lost mine really fast, then it slowed and finally became really difficult......still I reached my goal at right about a year. I have maintained for another year now, which was much harder than the losing part.

Trust me, you'll have you hands full maintaining, so get it off while you can.

[oldmike 13]

that scares me - if your eating less and doing your exercises, why is it hard to maintain ? does your body want to go back to 320 ? will it always be a struggle ?

[Recycled 2,182]

that scares me - if your eating less and doing your exercises, why is it hard to maintain ? does your body want to go back to 320 ? will it always be a struggle ?

Yes and no...... You can't lay around and eat crap and not gain..... Take advantage of the time you're losing to understand the hows and whys of the process. You'll eat next to nothing at first......then throw in exercise you probably never did much of before. The ghrelin hormone is gone (for awhile) So you lose weight.

Later on you can eat more, the calories go up some and you get hunger and some cravings sneaking back in. You give in to some and you find the weight will tip very easy. Just work harder and remember that you are there......and don't want to return to being obese. So you make sure even a couple of pounds doesn't go un-noticed. My easiest method is to add in more exercise to shed any pounds that creep on. I don't deny an occasional craving so I won't go off the rails in a pig out. But I treat even a couple of pounds as a slippery slope. Time will help as the good habits strengthen.

Don't fret.......it's the way it is supposed to be......Eat correctly and Exercise....to maintain. Just make adjustments to compensate for any variables. No biggie. You'll do fine.

[oldmike 13]

thanks dude

[Recycled 2,182]

And then there's the penis issue: You've got one. People with penises lose faster -- they have more muscle mass, which uses up calories faster. Those of us without penises don't have that benefit / problem.

Hey, you chicks got the boobs......

Bout time something we got comes in handy.........It is cool watching the muscle do it's thing.......

[JamieLogical 8,708]

I think that one reason people struggle to keep the weight off is that their metabolism gets wrecked. Some people are still one eating 600 calories a day at 6 months out. That might help them lose weight faster, but it means that if/when they ever get back to eating more normally, their body stores those extra calories more. I really think that trying to get in more calories sooner is a way to save your metablism. You should still focus on Protein and healthy fats, but especially if you exercise regularly, you need to be eating enough calories to sustain your activity level.

[oldmike 13]

That's what I was hoping - using the pre- post - and new sleeve to get me the edge but getting a comfortable diet and excerice program to loose slower - but who knows