iegal

Hey Miss Diva, so good to see you back on site. You are a rock star!
My hunger has returned at about 1.5 years. I crave different things than before VSG surgery. Yes, this is truly a head game but I do "feel" hunger. Now I want sweets. Prior to surgery I could pass up chocolate, pasteries & other surgary foods without an issue. Now, I live for ice cream and previous. Know what to do, how to do it, now just need to take the steps to get back into the sleeve diet.
Gallbladder sugery was done on this Thursday & I am about 5lbs above surgeons goal. GULP. I am more concerned about staying healthy than a number on a scale. But of course my skinny clothes are now tight too.
A shout out to all my fellow vertrans - even at three years out I know I can still be a loser!
.

OK, I think I have it figured out now!
Yesterday was my fast day and it went well, although all I really wanted to do was eat yesterday! Not down anymore this morning, but not up either, so that puts me as of this morning 6.2 lbs down from the highest that I hit and only 2 lbs away from what I was before I gained weight. I am trying not to get my hopes up thinking this might be the answer for me, but it is hard not to get excited. I might even try to get down a little lower than I was before and see how it goes. And I can tell I have lost some because my pants feel a little less tight then they did a few weeks ago...hooray!!
I hope you can figure out how to take your meds, like I mentioned, is it possible to take later in the day with lunch or something like that??
Have a great weekend! I am on my 3 normal days and enjoyed every bite of my Breakfast this morning!

My biggest dilemma is that I have to take medicine in the morning. I don't want to eat until around 11 am because I like to have a late night snack of 100 calorie pack of cocoa dusted almonds. I've been putting off taking my medicine but the one I can't put off is an anti biotic.
I guess I can share this ,lol. I have to take an antibiotic before have sex or I will get a UTI.I have to take it with food.< /p>
I guess half of a Greek Yogurt would be 50 calories. I need to look up string cheese and baby bell light.
How about you? Is the 5:2 plan working with your life? I also don't like working out with my trainer on an empty stomach.
Will this not work if you have 11 hours in between instead of 12? There must be some reason you have to have 12 hours off.

Hey Miss Diva, so good to see you back on site. You are a rock star!
My hunger has returned at about 1.5 years. I crave different things than before VSG surgery. Yes, this is truly a head game but I do "feel" hunger. Now I want sweets. Prior to surgery I could pass up chocolate, pasteries & other surgary foods without an issue. Now, I live for ice cream and previous. Know what to do, how to do it, now just need to take the steps to get back into the sleeve diet.
Gallbladder sugery was done on this Thursday & I am about 5lbs above surgeons goal. GULP. I am more concerned about staying healthy than a number on a scale. But of course my skinny clothes are now tight too.
A shout out to all my fellow vertrans - even at three years out I know I can still be a loser!
.

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

A note from an "old timer" who rarely posts here anymore. I miss the old days before points where old timers could state truth as truth, if you didn't like it, you had to only present facts against facts. Don't miss the posters who would advertise for thier surgeon with thin lies. Argh, the misinformation became too much for me.
Sleeved is Sept 2010. Read Oregon Daisy - a shout out to her, Coops, Miss Diva & Tiffykins posts like a bible. Would read them once, twice, a million times until I could almost quote them. I can't begin to express as nicely as Happy Camper how much wonderful direction these vets have had in my life. Hopefully I have in return encouraged a few newbies too - mostly I PM'd.
Still have several of Tiffykins posts saved in PDF which are reread when I wonder why extra lbs are on my mid section. We are friends on Facebook. Diva had a bad experience and moved on. Like most of us, life continues and the sleeve is no longer new friend but an old friend who we know without much conversation needed.
Any success I have achieved is due to VST veterans. Hugs to all my new and old vet friends.
I love my sleeve and have no regrets - iegal

Hello fellow SoCal VSG'ers!! I'm so glad to have found a group of those who are local and share the same Journey. It's like a brotherhood / sisterhood among us who went through with Surgical Weight Loss (SWL) and living the life.
I'm just over 1 week post op and doing well so far. I've already lost 30lbs since starting the pre op diet!! Hope to hear from you all :-)

Glad you will be there. I will be there with my nieces.

Congrats on the weight loss thus far. VSG is only a tool of restriction after a year. So you need to see what works now for you and stick with it. You can try shaking things up. Have a protien shake for Breakfast. Track what you are eating as far as carbs, protien, Fiber & how much Water. Go back to basics.
If you are in range of all of above, start walking 30 minutes a day. Then shake it up and increase by pushing some weights. You are in this for the long haul and can continue to lose weight. Maybe not a 3 lbs a week, but even 1lb a week is 26pounds in 6 months, right? Think of it, by 4th of July you can be at under goal weight.
Know you can do this. Keep moving & keep motivated.
I love my sleeve & have no regrets.

I don't recommend all liquid at this phase. I'd cut out all carbs except those from veggies, whole grain and dairy. Clear the crap out of the cupboards and stock up on your fav low cal foods. Wanna treat? Eat fat free yogurt and veggie dippers. I mix my yogurt with the packaged ranch dressing mix. Very low cal and a splurge. Join the valentines challenge. Get a food scale if you don't have one and weigh your food. And remember, you can't hate yourself thin. When you want to snack, close your eyes and picture dancing on your wedding day, thinner, healthy and happy. See a counselor if you need to to help some of the "why" you eat. Buy yourself a present for getting back on the wagon. Make a list of foods you eat and then next to them write better substitutes. For example, instead of Pasta, Beans. They have more Fiber and Protein. Lynda

Just going to get this rolling. Here is an "official" 5:2 fourm.

Not all links are equal, just some reading if your interested...



This is where I linked to the 5:2 FAQs page:

FAQ: meat consumption. From the original fast diet site. That second paragraph says it all!





Vive the Veg-olution!



Lots of buzz about at the moment around ‘demi-veg’ and part-time vegetarians (or ‘flexitarians’ – one of those clunky words that may well never take off, even if the activity does). Last week, the International Development Committee pointed to increased meat consumption as a catalyst for recent global food crises. And we all know that too much meat (particularly of the processed variety) is linked to all kinds of health issues.



One recent European study found that the biggest consumers of processed meat increased their risk of death from heart disease by 72% and cancer by 11%. The World Cancer Research Fund advises limiting intake of red meat because of its links to bowel cancer. By contrast, a six-year study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported in the London Evening Standard found that ‘the mortality rate among vegetarians was 12 per cent lower than in omnivores, while demi-veggies had an 8 per cent lower death rate than meat eaters’.



This really is food for thought – and it fits in neatly with The Fast Diet mantra of ‘mostly Plants and Protein’. Filling your plate with veg at the expense of meat, even for two days a week, could have a significant effect on your health, your waistline, your pocket and – yes – the planet. As Einstein once said, ‘Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.’



Perhaps full-time vegetarianism is too seismic a shift for some of us, but we could all do with moving towards more plant Proteins, legumes, herbs, veggies. And, really, there’s no sacrifice. A veg-based meal relies on spicing, texture, colour, crunch – and once you’re in the zone, it’s not so hard to come up with great meatless meals (there are tons of ideas in The Fast Diet Recipe Book of course). I had lunch at Ottolenghi in Notting Hill a fortnight ago: bliss on a plate, and no meat, not a sausage. As the Standard says, maybe it’s time to join the vegolution?



how many meals on a fast day? and other questions.

http://feedfastfeast...t-by-the-horns/


http://www.52fastdie...ting-t7857.html

a little 5:2 research-what is the dif between slow and fast losers on 5:2



If you have the time, read it, 12 page article on fasting, fun, fact filled and a little heady....inspirational, confirms the real reason we are all doing it, longevity and health.



http://www.scribd.co...ur-Way-to-Vigor



Have not read yet (will tonight), but by same author, on the fast diet...

http://www.scribd.co...n-the-Fast-Diet



This was posted else ware, but I thought it would be good to have it in our "bag of tricks" here as well...



http://www.obesityhe...an-fail-part-2/

DO THE MATH

164 Studies,
161,756 Patients
Over Nearly 10 Years:
What Does This Add Up To?
BARIATRIC AND METABOLIC SURGERY IS EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED AND GETTING SAFER!
A new meta-analysis of studies carried out between 2003 and 2012 shows higher remission rates of diabetes and high blood pressure and a lower mortality rate than previously reported. The study, published online in JAMA Surgery, is an update to a meta-analysis of studies conducted between 1990 and 2003 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, Buchwald et. al.) back in October 2004.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reviewed outcomes from nearly 162,000 patients in 164 studies (37 randomized clinical trials and 127 observational studies), over almost 10 years.

They discovered 92 percent of patients in randomized clinical trials experienced diabetes remission after surgery, slightly higher than the 86 percent remission rate found in observational studies, but significantly higher than the 76.8 percent remission rate found in the 2004 JAMA study.

Remission rates for hypertension were about 75 percent in both the randomized clinical trials and observational studies, while the remission rate in 2004 was 61.7 percent. Body Mass Index (BMI) loss five years after surgery ranged from 12 to 17 in the new study. Before surgery, patients had an average BMI of 45.62.

"With the 2004 study, we now have 22 years worth of data from over 180,000 patients and 300 studies," said study co-author J. Esteban Varela, MD, MPH, MBA, Fellow of the ASMBS. "The data continues to prove bariatric surgery is not only safe and effective in providing significant and sustainable weight loss, but is the most effective treatment today for diabetes, hypertension and an array of other diseases and conditions in people with obesity."

In the new study, 30-day mortality rate was 0.08 percent, down from the 0.3 percent reported in 2004. Complication rates ranged from 10 to 17 percent and the reoperation rate was about 7 percent. Complication and reoperation rates were not reported in the previous meta-analysis.

By procedure, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy resulted in the greatest weight loss, but had a higher rate of complications and mortality than adjustable gastric banding. Gastric banding had the highest reoperation rate (12% in randomized trials), while gastric bypass had the lowest at 3 percent, followed by sleeve gastrectomy, which had a reoperation rate of 9 percent. The new meta-analysis included sleeve gastrectomy, which was not available in the 1990s. Of note, sleeve gastrectomy had comparable weight loss to that of gastric bypass at 5 years.

"This is but the latest study to validate the high degree of safety and effectiveness of bariatric surgery," said Ninh T. Nguyen, MD, FACS, President of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery at UC Irvine School of Medicine. "Today we are performing operations that are as safe or safer than gallbladder and hernia repair surgery."

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 78 million adults were obese in 2011–2012.1 The ASMBS estimates about 24 million people have severe or morbid obesity. Individuals with a BMI greater than 30 have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death compared to healthy weight individuals as well as an increased risk of developing more than 40 obesity-related diseases and conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.2,3

Just wanting to say a quick thank you to my fellow VETS here in the Vet's Forum for encouraging me, lifting me up, and being there for the long haul! I know several of you who went before me OD, Coops, GT, etc. and a few of you who were really close to my date as well and a lot of you were who were after me.
But staying HERE at VST and being encouraging to me is awesome and I just wanted to say thanks.
(If you want to see my before/afters I posted here)
http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/97887-3-years-ago-today-i-had-the-vsg/
I celebrated by purchasing some new spin shoes and doing a double workout (weight lifting for a hour and spin for an hour!)

I have wanted some of these for so long and a 3 year 'anniversary' seemed like a good time to treat myself!

They weren't cheap but totally worth the investment and way better than cake (well, ok, *almost* better than cake...)

Anyway, 3 years is a long time to be on a message board but I wouldn't be here without some of my fellow vets and for that I'm so grateful. THANK YOU!

I am a little late reading this post. I am OCD about getting in my fluids now......Dehydration really sucks and can cause so much misery....I do know that it gets better as time goes by.....I like Lynda's plan alot.
How was your doctor's appt and how are you doing today with getting your fluids in?

I think get it. I am (hopefully) getting sleeved in the Spring. Right now, all I can do is look at my teenage daughters and wonder how much of their lives I missed because I didn't have the energy. All my 20s, half my 30s...wasted.
Edit: I had an opportunity 10 years ago to get the bypass. I (smugly) decided I was better than that. I probably should have gotten it then, but now I am honestly happy the sleeve is available.

I see your beach view...and I raise you Oreo cupcakes.

I'd take a hendricks gin and tonic anyday over a stupid cupcake...haha.
so,today is Sat so I guess 5 days postop. We ventured beyond the hotel walls undr firm instructions from the surgeon to move like 85 year old ladies walking on an icey path... ie slow and careful. I had my 7 drains cleverly tucked into a fanny pack, but yes I got stares. We went to a local grocery store and connected mall, lots of sitting between walking . Had a great time, love people so always a good time. back to the hotel and slept the sleep of the dead a few hours...lol
The elimination of the tape is solving the skinproblem and we bought a very thin shirt to go under the top garmet to protect my sensitive skin. I am no longer developing skin abrasions yeah ! so wearing the garment except for showers.
one of the reasons 5 :2 works for me is they are super low carb days.... remember i dont "count" calories. my fast days are approx 500 but they are basically low carb Protein drnk days with perhaps a hunk of sandwich meat.

Back from vacation to all your stories and progress! So happy for you both, past your surgery and into healing. Best of luck to you both!
...I haven't lost any weight in two days, how do you break a stall?

I think you are my twin sister! I could quote your exact comments. Lol
My all time fav.
"I've ONLY lost 85 pounds in 3 months? What's wrong with me?"