Experience of seasoned sleevers

[Alex123 18]

Hello friends I was wondering how the journey is for seasoned sleevers and what advice you could give for us beginners. I have read a lot in regards of weight reverting and stabilization, physiological changes etc... How has the post-op experience been for you guys??? What would you have done differently if anything? Thanks for sharing!

[Healthy_life 1,437]

Bariatric weight loss is nothing magic. Follow your plan and put the work in.

Weight Loss success stories

https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1298-weight-loss-surgery-success-stories/

Tell your weight loss story

https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1297-tell-your-weight-loss-surgery-story/

Before and afters

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/297668-i-want-to-see-before-after-pics-contd/

[sideeye 1,440]

Couple of things I’d note, 10 months out:

- don’t compare yourself to others, focus on your own goals.

- get familiar with the metric that the average VSG patient loses 60% of their excess body weight. Set expectations accordingly and train yourself to tell the difference between genuinely falling behind medically and just perceiving you’re losing slower than others (comparison)

- keep in mind that this board is full of self-selecting success stories. We are NOT an accurate reflection of the group at large; those who lose less or struggle are less likely to post here consistently.

- many people who go off-track get walloped by the habit/emotional side of things. Think about therapy before and after, and if you start noticing yourself sabotaging? SEE SOMEONE.

- the honeymoon phase is about a year long. Don’t waste it.

For me, this surgery’s been a fantastic experience. My best guess is that I was chasing a chemical high achieved when I overate; when I could no longer overeat, I couldn’t get the high anymore so all incentive to overeat dropped away. I think the experience is different for people who have habits like emotional eating or socialized/ritualized eating patterns. Then again, the experience is different for absolutely everyone, so all you can do is prep in a best-guess way and put forth your best effort.

Good luck.

[Kris77 1,539]

That is really great advice. I'm terrified I'll not hit my goal and/or in a couple years be back at my original weight. Thank you😀

[Alex123 18]

Thank you Sideeye for sharing! Your excellent insight and advice is noted. I couldn't agree more with the statement of honeymoon phase, time flies amazingly fast and its best to make sure you put the work in when it counts like Healthy_Life states. I think if we maximize that phase not only do we accomplish our goals but we build long term habits. As for myself this surgery has been beneficial for me in so many ways and Im sure at one point or the other we all shared similar results positive or negative.