Wisdom from a 10-year VSG Veteran

[JamieLogical 8,710]

Hi everyone! I haven't been on this site in a VERY long time, but I am currently on a new weight loss journey and I thought I would report in with my experience and the hope that some of you newbies can learn from it.

I had my VSG surgery on 9/1/2014, so 10 years ago this month. At the time of my surgery, I weighed ~260 pounds and I am 5'6". I have lost and gained weight a million times before that, with my highest weight ever having been 277 pounds.

In the first couple of years after my surgery, I was able to get below my goal weight (165) all the way down to 154. During that time I trained for and ran in a half marathon and a full marathon, completing the full marathon in September 2016 (almost exactly two years after my surgery).

I separated from my then-husband in May of 2016 and our divorce was final in December 2016. My life took a very different path after that and I did not stick to my healthy diet and exercise. I met my current husband in February of 2017 and while I love him dearly and he is THE BEST, he is a bit of a hedonist and we definitely supported each other in our hedonism. I became a connoisseur of fine craft beers and we have a large friend group who we go out with or have get-togethers with several times a week. I not only stopped running but stopped exercising altogether.

Both my current husband and I put on weight in the seven years we have been together, especially during COVID, and I got all the way back up to 234 pounds! Last year, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and, in April, we resolved to turn things around together.

Since then, I have lost 30 pounds and I am on my way down to my new goal weight of 180. So, here are some things I want to report, trying to lose weight again for the first time since immediately after my surgery:

• The restriction still works! I cannot eat much more than about 200 grams of food in one sitting. Once I cut out snacking and stopped drinking as many calories (beer), it was easy to rely on my sleeve to restrict my daily caloric intake.
• My metabolism is still normal. As a 5'6 female weighing 203.2 pounds, I still burn ~2100 calories per day just by living, according to my Garmin watch and it definitely tracks with the calorie differential I am logging and the weight loss I am seeing.
• I still can't eat and drink at the same time. I usually have to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to drink anything after I eat a full meal.
• Being overly full is still an unpleasant feeling. Before my surgery, I used to love the sensation of being "stuffed." Since surgery and to this day, it is still uncomfortable for me if I overeat in one sitting. Not a pleasant sensation at all, but not painful like it was in the very beginning.
• I can still get dumping syndrome if I'm not careful. If eat too much sugar too fast, usually in the form of ice cream or a milkshake, I get dumping syndrome and it is VERY unpleasant, fortunately, it is very rare.
• Food can still get "stuck." Every once in a while, mostly when I am eating turkey or pork it seems, food can get stuck and it is completely miserable. Be sure to thoroughly chew your food!!! Especially dense meats.

My advice to anyone who is post-sleeve and still losing weight or trying to maintain their weight:

• Snacks are the enemy! It's so easy to get in extra calories by eating smaller amounts between meals. Your sleeve won't help you at all with this.
• Drinking your calories is easy and dangerous. I haven't given up my precious beer entirely, but I have cut back and I am mindful of the type of beer I am drinking as some types are more caloric than others. You can just as easily drink your calories even if you don't drink alcohol. Be wary of soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, juices, and too much cream/sugar/syrups in your coffee.
• Keep up with the exercise. It doesn't have to be training for a marathon like I did in the beginning. Currently, my husband and I take a ~mile walk after dinner each night and we try to do one, long, 4-5 mile walk/hike on the weekend. Just that moderate amount of activity can make a big difference.
• Be mindful of calorically dense foods. Even though I can only eat 200 grams at a time, if it is 200 grams of junk, it can have a LOT of calories!

I hope the lesson that all of you take from this post is that the sleeve is a tool and it is all about how you use it. It can work for you, even 10 years out, as long as you use it correctly.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

I should have mentioned a bit about my health other than my weight. I continue to take omeprazole, a Multivitamin, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-12, and a probiotic daily. All of my lab work, including cholesterol are in healthy ranges every year at my annual physical. My blood pressure has also remained in a healthy range.

[ShoppGirl 5,003]

Did you not need Calcium? I had the sleeve and was just revised to a sadI and with both I was prescribe 1500mg of calcium supplements.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

1 minute ago, ShoppGirl said:

Did you not need Calcium? I had the sleeve and was just revised to a sadI and with both I was prescribe 1500mg of Calcium supplements.

I took calcium in the beginning and eventually my doctor told me I didn't need to take it anymore as I was getting enough calcium through my diet.

[summerseeker 2,236]

Great information thank you.

[SpartanMaker 886]

2 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

food can still get "stuck." Every once in a while, mostly when I am eating turkey or pork it seems, food can get stuck and it is completely miserable. Be sure to thoroughly chew your food!!! Especially dense meats.

Lot's of good advice in your post! I wanted to comment on the above issue regarding Proteins that seem like they just don't want to digest properly. I was advised by my surgical team to try papain (also known as papaya proteinase I). It was like a miracle in quickly easing that really horrible feeling and getting the food to digest. It might not be for everyone (I hear some people can react to it), but it worked so well for me I tend to carry some with me when I'm traveling or know I'll be eating out.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

25 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

Lot's of good advice in your post! I wanted to comment on the above issue regarding Proteins that seem like they just don't want to digest properly. I was advised by my surgical team to try papain (also known as papaya proteinase I). It was like a miracle in quickly easing that really horrible feeling and getting the food to digest. It might not be for everyone (I hear some people can react to it), but it worked so well for me I tend to carry some with me when I'm traveling or know I'll be eating out.

Thanks for the tip! I will give it a try.

[GreenTealael 25,430]

Great post ! Happy 10th surgiversary and wishing you many more years of restored health!

[Danette90 2]

Jamielogical thank you for your inspiring words of motivation I had the VSG about 3 years ago and regain weight to the point I was thinking there is no way to get it back off. After reading your story I have the motivation I needed to not give up the fight and reclaim myself.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

As of yesterday, I was back under 200 pounds, so that was an exciting milestone! I have been tracking my food, walking each day, doing a long hike on the weekends, and the weight has been coming off at the expected pace. I am averaging about 1300 calories a day in consumption and my watch says I am averaging about 2300 calories a day of burn, which works out to an average calorie deficit of 1000 per day and I am right on that target of losing 2 pounds per week. I am really pleased that my metabolism seems normal and that my restriction still prevents me from eating too much in a single sitting.

I had a long chat with my husband about how "dieting" is so different this time around from when I had lost weight pre-surgery. This is my first time really trying to lose weight since my surgery and it is definitely much easier than it used to be.

[Tomo 1,194]

Wow, that is wonderful and inspiring. So true that those little Snacks and drinks can add up. Especially those slider types that make us wonder if our WLS isn't working anymore.

Here's to many healthy years to you and your hubby. [emoji3060]

[MandoGetsSleeved 443]

Thank you for this timely post - I'm 4 years out and have gained ~25 from my lowest. For months I've stuck my head in the sand and pretended it wasn't happening. Got on the scale Sunday, felt sorry for myself - blamed it on work stress, home stress, etc - Decided to log in here on Monday and this was the first post I saw.

THANK YOU again for the wake up call. I restarted tracking yesterday (let's hope it sticks this time!) and rather than "just eat", purposely made better choices, got my Protein in - Found that if I eat what I'm supposed to, I really do get full quickly. The tool works, you just have to let it.

[Dschmitty 5]

@JamieLogical are you counting steps daily or going for distance? I need to go back to the basics of eating after surgery. I’m like you and can’t eat a lot of food for a meal and count that as a blessing. I’m recently dealing with a strained groin and doing pt for it. I’m getting frustrated because I’m starting to gain my weight back. There is always an obstacle for me to go through on this journey. Hoping and praying to get motivated soon!

[Spinoza 1,452]

Excellent thread - thank you @JamieLogical!

I got sleeved almost 3 years ago. I hit my goal weight well within my first year. I lost another 10lbs very slowly in my second year to reach a BMI of 20. I was absolutely thrilled - I had lost just over half my body weight and was well beyond wildest dreams territory after a lifetime of obesity.

But I started to regain this year. Initially I thought it was just the classic '3rd year regain' of the 10 - 20 lbs that so many people seem to experience. I asked lots of questions here and was reassured by the answers. I hadn't really drifted *that* much off the path (I thought).

However, I continued to regain with no let up and was getting really worried. I eventually reached 16lbs over my lowest weight a month or so ago.

Finally, I decided to go back to absolute basics and see whether that might reverse the regain. Carbs had crept in a bit (NOT A LOT, honestly) so I started every meal with Protein, ate veg next, and stopped all bread, rice, Pasta, potatoes etc. Just as I would have 2-3 years ago.

Guess what? I have lost 9lbs of that regain in just over a month. My current diet is pretty much strict Keto and not hard at all. I totally agree that the tool is there, we just have to use it and not eat around it.

I'm so happy that I caught myself before I regained much more, but I can also totally see how I might have undone much more hard work. I wish you all the very very best with your new loss. I suspect you'll greet every milestone with just as much joy as you did originally.

[Mspretty86 348]

Love this thanks for the Info!