M2G

I haven't not read in a while due to being on VACATION! I really tried to eat well on vacation, but gah, we went to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure in FL over the week of 4th of July and holy hotdog Batman...healthy food is NOT their top priority. I wish I had taken a photo of my attempt at a healthy theme park lunch (I ordered grilled chicken sandwich and fries, and threw out the bun and most of the fries) but honestly this little chicken slab was so horrid looking I'm shocked I was able to even eat any of it. lol. Burger King would have made a better chicken sandwich! Anyway, just back trying to get back in the swing of things...threw out my back (too many roller coasters?) but the only saving grace for a vacation like ours was the sheer amount of walking we did each day. Hello cardio. Okay, sorry for butting in without reading the most recent previous posts...resume your regular programming...hehehe.

Georgia...you know I'm not 100% sure. I know they want people to call in and make appts when they are experiencing regain. I sort of lost touch with my every 3 month appt approach after I hit about 18 months post-op, so I have resumed seeing the NUT every 3 months starting in Jan of this year...(which is good but isn't making the regain magically disappear.) They also have a structured diet (ketogenic diet??? thinking Medifast-ish) that you use to replace food for a while. You don't just get to say "oh I'm sick of it, I'm OFF" so I think they slowly wean you off the diet and back to real food. Beyond that I'm not sure. I've thought about the keto diet but haven't jumped in because I honestly think it will be hard to mesh eating "my food" with feeding my family etc. So not sure, but I know he speaks about the "After 2 Year Gain" in his seminar and how part of his practice is focusing on eliminating that. I think most people tend to slink away when there is a gain and that is when you NEED him (surgeon) the most. Just like people slink away from here with a regain. Sigh...

Cheri you hit the nail right on the head with saying that you "don't have to be hungry to eat." Ah ha! Yes, and 2 years ago when I was 7-8 months post op I thought I had it all figured out, eat to live...duh. Isn't that was all the experts say eating *should* revolve around? Anyway, I'm still in the "moderation" camp vs. the "abstinence" camp but I do practice a lot of either or. I will either have a flatbread round for my sandwich OR a handful of pretzel sticks, but I wont' do both. Same for things like mexican dining, I will have the chips/salsa but NOT the rice. I haven't read the articles posted so I need to go do that. My surgeons spends a LOT of time trying to eliminate the 10-???lbs regain that he sees ALL the time. When he first said that I thought "oh not me, if I work so hard to get it off I will never regain" hahaha. Best laid plans. For the most part I DO focus on the -85lbs I have lost instead of the +15lbs that I have regained that I cannot seem to make disappear. After I get back from vacation I may have to jump on the 5:2 plan!

Sometimes I find myself just opening the fridge and staring, or standing in the pantry looking. Aaaargh! WHY? I used to be able to tell myself "If you are not looking for Protein then you must not be hungry" and that would work. Now I do find myself snacking on things that are NOT on my plan, but for the most part I do at least portion it out. Never again eat handfuls out of the bag or box. It's good that you are recognizing the old ways and behaviors, that alone is going to help. Awareness is a good tool.

I still love plain Water also, but it does need to be ice cold. I have various assorted crystal lite mixes but find that I actually prefer water over something sweet to drink. I hate sweet tea so that is a good thing. The one thing that I will allow in my water is True Lime. It's not sweet, just like adding a squeeze of lime to your water (it's crystallized lime without added sugars). That might help. I just heard about adding sea salt to my water after a workout (instead of gatorade-type drinks) to replace lost electrolytes. I've tried it but not the biggest fan. Sometimes I can handle it if I do a mix of sea salt AND True Lime. So this is not to scare you, or to say that this is going to be your problem also but it's worth noting here. The citric acid in a lot of drinks can be bad for your teeth. (The True Lime that I mentioned has it also...so buyer beware.) http://lapbandgalsjourney.blogspot.com/2012/06/are-you-bulimic.html It's one of the many reasons that I try to drink plain old water.

I know of someone who was looking to have this done also...I will PM you her blog and maybe you can connect with her.

You look beautiful! congrats on all your hard work so far. Keep up the exercise, you will need it for life to keep the pounds away!

Congratulations on your 2 year! WOW! Judging from your before photos you were the LIFE of the party before having the VSG, but now YOU probably get to enjoy life SO much more...being able to swim, dance, etc. Love the last shot!

Hey Alex! Thank you for asking me to be in your newsletter Member Spotlight! What a nice honor. One thing I wanted to clarify is that my surgeon was not new to bariatric surgery, just sleeves. When I was sleeved he had done thousands of RNYs and Bands, but only 14 sleeves prior to mine. There was a large trust factor in there (me = trusting him) before moving forward. I also wanted to ask if I missing the LINK to the Sleever Poll? Maybe I just don't see the link? And one last thing, I always wish you guys would throw in photos on the member spotlight. So I will put some photos up. These are on here already floating around but here they are again. Thanks! (click on them to see them larger)

Ahh, the G in NannieG was for Georgia! You are beautiful and thank you for posting your pics. I did get a chuckle out of the "sexy" TP rolls in the background, lol. Gotta love trying to get a good "selfie" in the bathroom mirror!!

Nevermind, NtvTxn, just saw on the other thread that you do not exercise. I think probably the thing that saves you from gaining is your diligence to what you eat and tracking your food.

I'm so with ya, (k, maybe not cute little cuddly kittens, lol) but I hear ya! I'm 41 years old and in the last 20 years I've been exercising CONSISTENTLY for 12 out of those 20 years. But working out alone does NOT EQUAL weight loss for me. But it does clear the cobwebs, I've made lifelong friends, and it makes me feel so good. I can't imagine my life without some sort of exercise. For those of you who have never tried it, I highly suggest it. Going to the gym a few times a year isn't going to count either. Make some goals, even if it's just walking (it's FREE, it's easy and you can do it almost anywhere) and make yourself a priority. Okay, stepping off my soapbox now...

Well done! You are rocking those boots and don't even look like the same PERSON!

Like Coops (she and I have discussed this ad nauseum for literally years now!) I never reached goal. I'm not sure if I just got complacent after about 18 months of losing weight, I sort of fell off the wagon and regained a little bit. I'm still fighting the regain, and once that is gone I still have -20lbs to goal. I've always been an exerciser (yes for a good 7 years BEFORE surgery) so that was not new to me. I stepped up my game once the weight started to go, and I try to diligently do a mix of intense cardio and weights, although I'm starting to wonder if I need to add more weights to my weekly routine. I think I'm addicted to the cardio high... So there is the camp of heavy lifters vs. the cardio camp and I try to do both weekly but probably do more cardio than lifting. At any rate on the low end of the calories burned scale I probably burn 300cals (that would be for 20-30 mins on the treadmill the difference being between walking or running) to upwards of 700+ calories on an an intense 1 hour cardio class (like spin.) And not to confuse this thread with others, but since you brought it up (your statement about NOT wanting to have to restrict to 700-900 cals is what I'm referring to) ...I'm literally TORN between trying to restrict my calories (I seem to only lose when I am >800cals/daily) and trying to "reset my metabolism" (assumingly shot to he(( over my post-op eating of >1000 or less a day for 1.5 years!) There is an ongoing debate about what is better, to EAT more (upper end of 1850-2000 cals/day) or do less (i.e. >800 or the 5:2 plan where you eat normally 5 days a week and fast on about 500 calories the other 2 days a week.) Even just typing this out makes my head spin. Part of me says that I did NOT go and CUT 85% of my stomach out so that I could EAT 2000cals/day, and the other part of me says how ridiculous it is that I have to eat such low calories to maintain (I can maintain on anything from 900-1400cals/day and really only lose when I hit below >800.) So obviously I'm not the person you want to talk to. I don't know if that makes me a good vet or a bad vet, but I will be 3 years post-op this Oct and STILL have not figured out exactly what works for me (well I do know that >800 works but I'm unwilling to do that 99% of the time.) So if and when you figure out what works for you I would love for you to share. As for Lynda and NtvTxn I'm so glad that you have figured out what works for you. If you don't mind can you guys share your daily caloric intake NtvTxn do you exercise?

As we've previously discussed I think you are AT goal! You look GREAT!!

Yes! I did this before starting with anything because I wanted ALL of my medical records just in case. I called my ins., saw my surgeon's NUT, went to my surgeon's seminar, AND saw my surgeon ALL before visiting my PCP (I had to wait 6 months anyway to be approved so I had time on my side) but when I did finally talk to my PCP, I was pleasantly surprised that he was supportive. I had previously asked about bypass and he had sort of steered me away from it (giving me thumbs up to try South Beach, and Meridia, and eventually a card for a place that sold medifast-like supplements) so I was thinking he might not be on board. When I did see him I had taken ALL of my medical records and made a chart of my weights over the last 10 years (he's been my dr. at least that long!) I wrote down every single diet I had ever tried (with lots being recommended by him) and the results of those diets, how much I lost, how much I regained and how much I spent. What I realized during the whole process is that he just didn't want to be the one to suggest surgery. Faced with the overwhelming report that diets had indeed NOT worked for me, he was 100% on board. Good luck, time to take charge and get the paperwork you need and deserve to have!

But they are not private. Nothing on here is "private" that is my point. Sure men are asked not to post in the powder, and vice versa, but it's really not private in any way. Just because you "post" it in the powder room doesn't mean that mean can't read it.

Oh my GOSH this is SOOOOOOOOOOO true! I would be nice to have things a little bit more condensed. I hate OH *because* it has really no sub forums once you get to a specific board. But I feel like VST has so so so many sub forums. As to what the OP said about the idea that we "can't" post in the Men's/Powder if we are not the correct gender does seem a bit silly. If that were true, then shouldn't Religious NOT be allowed to post in the Agnostics forum, or if you are straight should you not be allowed in the gay room? What about if you are in your 20's and heading over to the 40's board? That all seems a bit silly don't you think? http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/80058-not-posting-in-the-mens-roompowder-room/page__hl__%2Bnot+%2Bposting+%2Bthe+%2Bpowder+%2Broom I believe that was the original thread asking about "closing" the men's/powder room. But it's not "closed" in the sense that only if you are a man or a woman can you read, you have just restricted opposite genders from posting, not reading (correct?) Basically my thought is this: yeah, you can restrict people from posting in certain forums, but this is, after all, a public forum. Anything you put on here can be seen by anyone at all.

Haha! That was what I was thinking. If I had EVER looked like ANY of those "befores" with smooth skin and fat evenly distributed around my body (not lumpy and bulging) then maybe I would have decided to be a BBW forever and forget about surgery!

Congratulations Kristie! You look amazing and that is such an incredible loss in one year! Are you still healing from plastics?

Love this picture! You and your little dog are both too cute!

Here is a really neat article talking about how our Mothers' actions and words shape our body images even when we are young. http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/8760102/When-your-mother-says-shes-fat I have REALLY conciously tried to stop the negative talk when it comes to anything about bodies, shape, fat, etc. when it comes to my girls. I have an almost 11-year old daughter and a 12 year old daughter and the last thing they need to hear is "oh you'll just take after me and be fat." They were 9 and 10 when I was sleeved and I told them that I needed to have surgery to regain my health. It is my great hope that obesity does NOT find them and do harm to them.

Happy Birthday June Ladies!

I really love this FYE. I feel like I'm really struggling as well. What to eat, how many calories to eat, what kind of workout to do, it's overwhelming. It was so much easier when I had that big ole binder from my surgeon that said EAT XXX for XXX weeks, then switch to XXX at XXX weeks and so and so forth. I feel like once you hit one year post-op the guidelines are a bit sketchy. At first I thought I was doing awesome just exercising. I was going to Curves 3-5x a week, and filling in on non-curves days with treadmill walking (fast) and running. Then I elevated my game to include 1 hour intense classes at a "real" gym with "real" fitness instructors. I've done hour long cardio sessions and other classes that focus on strength training and weight lifting. So now I feel like I need to go get a degree in fitness and health JUST to figure out what the he(( I'm supposed to eat and how to exercise for the REST OF MY LIFE. And I know we all know this but it bears repeating...what works for ONE does NOT work for ALL. So you throw that aspect into the mix and I just feel like I'm adrift on a open sea of confusion. Sigh. Anyway this is all to tell you I love what you wrote.

Okay so this thread answered some of my questions. In 8 weeks of eating this way you gained +10lbs. Then after 8 weeks you lost the +10lbs (HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE TO LOSE THE GAIN?) And how much more did you lose PAST the -10? Do you do cardio in addition to lifting weights? What is your workout on a weekly basis (for example do you only lift 3 days a week at that is all or what other exercise are you doing?) Please give us more info and if you want please start a new thread. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is interested in possibly resetting a metabolism.