VSG veterens! Best advice for success, please!

[24601 210]

I am only 10 days post op, and I really want this to be successful. From those of you who have achieved your goal weight, what are your top tips to making the most of the sleeve and achieving success?

[Babbs 14,681]

Follow the WLS "rules" 90% of the time:

Protein first. Protein keeps you full and satiated longer. It also takes more calories to digest. Protein also keeps you from losing the all important muscle mass that will be lost during weight loss.

Drink your fluids. Find ways to make sure you're getting at least 64oz of fluids (preferably water) in every day. It's very hard sometimes, but so important for health and weight loss.

Move more. You don't have to be a gym rat. And weight loss really is 90% diet. But if you truly want to look and feel healthier, find ways to move your body so you're boosting your metabolism and getting that heart pumping a little most days. Find something you like to do and stick with it!

Watch sugar and other "white stuff"....bread, rice, Pasta, potatoes. I didn't touch the stuff until I had lost 75% of my excess weight. Even now in maintenence, I rarely eat them because FOR ME, it causes cravings for more. It's just too much of a slippery slope for me.

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED. I was a slower loser and stalled a lot. It took me a year to lose 85 pounds. I stopped trying to compare my weight loss to others and realized this was my journey and nobody elses. I also learned that stalls were a normal part of the process, and if needed, I would adjust things accordingly or just kept doing what I was doing and rode them out. It's a constant process learning to listen to what our bodies need at any given time. And what my body needs may be different from what your body needs. And it's never as simple as 'calories in, calories out'.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

[Sophie74656 1,572]

follow the guidelines your surgeon and nutritionist have set for you. Drink plenty of Water. when you are able to, exercise

[natnat919 165]

Babbs has the best advice..... follow that. My surgeon said "if you do 80% of what I tell you to do, you'll be successful".

And, know what your triggers are.....and avoid at all costs. This isn't a magic pill for weight loss, you have to do the work. My trigger (my crack cocaine) is sugar. If I eat one piece of chocolate, one cookie or one bite of cake, I'll eat the whole entire thing and want more the next day.... the sleeve hasn't changed that. I can have the occasional (maybe once a month?) piece of bread or potato............that I can control and it doesn't make me crave more. But chocolate or any type of sweet? I know I can't handle it, so I avoid it at all costs.

It would be very easy to slip back into old habits.

And make sure your head is right. I felt that losing the weight would solve all of my problems. I have a wonderful life "except that I'm fat". I have lost the weight and should have worked on my "head" the entire time, along with my body.

[livvsmum 2,369]

For me, I would say the two things that have made me successful thus far were the following:

1. Follow the plan. Stick to your numbers. For me, I shoot for 70g Protein, less than 40g carbs, and at least 100oz Water daily. The weight flew off sticking to that. I "really" stuck to it though. I tracked everything I put in my mouth on MFP religiously and DID NOT deviate from the program until I reached my goal.

2. At around 8 months or so post op I started struggling to do what came so easy for me in the months right after surgery. I started to struggle with cravings and food choices again, much to my despair. It terrified me, so I sought out therapy with an eating disorder therapist. I have been working with her every single week since then, and I am now over 2 years post op. ONe of the first things she did in my first session was introduce me to Geneen Roth's writings, particularly "When food is Love." By the title I thought, "pftt...that doesn't apply to me...." But when I actually read the book, I took pages and pages of journal notes because I couldn't believe how much it changed my life. Buy it. Read it. Re-read it!

Good luck

[24601 210]

Thank you, all! Great advice! And, livvsmum, I own that book, and I agree that it is amazing!