ToDream

You can make them into a sweet snack as well by sprinkling some cinnamon and splenda mixed together over them like you would popcorn seasoning. Yum!

Hi Dwayne,
I'm from Edmonton as well. I had my VSG with Dr Almanza at the end of April. Best decision I ever made... seriously. I wish that I had known that I had this option years ago. I was one of the many uninformed out there that thought that WLS was only for people over 500 lbs. Now, I'm enjoying my life again and looking forward to each day. My asthma is better, I'm off my anti-depressants and my blood pressure is now hovering on the low side instead of high!
You ask about if you can have a normal life post-vsg... I guess it really depends on what you consider "normal". If your normal is eating to excess, eating poorly or using food as a response to stress or emotions... then no. It will be far far from normal after surgery. You will gain a REAL normal. A healthy respect for your sleeve is definitely needed going through this process and if you don't, it WILL remind you.
Is it easy? no freaking way. It's absolutely not easy.... however, weight loss is guaranteed with this option. For you, all you have to do is learn how to have healthy habits post-op so you stay healthy and keep the weight off. Support post-op is incredibly important and self-pay sleevers often have difficulty getting that. I know 2 other Edmontonians that are successful sleevers that can help.
Private message me if you want more info! Cheryl

Hi Dwayne,
I'm from Edmonton as well. I had my VSG with Dr Almanza at the end of April. Best decision I ever made... seriously. I wish that I had known that I had this option years ago. I was one of the many uninformed out there that thought that WLS was only for people over 500 lbs. Now, I'm enjoying my life again and looking forward to each day. My asthma is better, I'm off my anti-depressants and my blood pressure is now hovering on the low side instead of high!
You ask about if you can have a normal life post-vsg... I guess it really depends on what you consider "normal". If your normal is eating to excess, eating poorly or using food as a response to stress or emotions... then no. It will be far far from normal after surgery. You will gain a REAL normal. A healthy respect for your sleeve is definitely needed going through this process and if you don't, it WILL remind you.
Is it easy? no freaking way. It's absolutely not easy.... however, weight loss is guaranteed with this option. For you, all you have to do is learn how to have healthy habits post-op so you stay healthy and keep the weight off. Support post-op is incredibly important and self-pay sleevers often have difficulty getting that. I know 2 other Edmontonians that are successful sleevers that can help.
Private message me if you want more info! Cheryl

I love this thread! I hope my experiences are welcome here too! Your Do's and Don'ts are invaluable LilMissDiva, I hope you don't mind that I reposted that post on my own blog (I gave you credit for it). If you do, please PM me and I'll amend or delete as required I want all sleevers to have as much information as they possibly can and I love to offer as much insight as I can into those early days when we all had a million questions!

Hi Dwayne,
I'm from Edmonton as well. I had my VSG with Dr Almanza at the end of April. Best decision I ever made... seriously. I wish that I had known that I had this option years ago. I was one of the many uninformed out there that thought that WLS was only for people over 500 lbs. Now, I'm enjoying my life again and looking forward to each day. My asthma is better, I'm off my anti-depressants and my blood pressure is now hovering on the low side instead of high!
You ask about if you can have a normal life post-vsg... I guess it really depends on what you consider "normal". If your normal is eating to excess, eating poorly or using food as a response to stress or emotions... then no. It will be far far from normal after surgery. You will gain a REAL normal. A healthy respect for your sleeve is definitely needed going through this process and if you don't, it WILL remind you.
Is it easy? no freaking way. It's absolutely not easy.... however, weight loss is guaranteed with this option. For you, all you have to do is learn how to have healthy habits post-op so you stay healthy and keep the weight off. Support post-op is incredibly important and self-pay sleevers often have difficulty getting that. I know 2 other Edmontonians that are successful sleevers that can help.
Private message me if you want more info! Cheryl

I told ppl i was dieting for 2 months before i had surgery, and that i had lost weight, but was getting really frustrated that it wasn't showing yet. After surgery when i did lose 50 lbs over 4 months, they thought it was six. I also told them i'd lost 40 lbs, so if they did the math it wasn't as alarming. 1 yr later, still at goal, still only my family knows, no regrets. No one even suspects as far as i know. I told them i was eating a high Protein low carb diet with smaller portions. Now, when eating in public, no one notices my smaller portions and leftovers on my plate, if they do, i just say something like, i wasn't very hungry, or i have heartburn. Honestly, ppl do not pay attention to details.

Welcome fellow successes!
A year has gone by since we all each posted about our nerves going into surgery, our fears, our hopes, trials and tribulations post op... and now we're on the outside looking in... as success stories, as "seasoned sleevers"!
For me, I'm a couple weeks from my one year anniversary and sitting comfortably below goal! I hit goal (149 lbs) a few days before Christmas 2011 and since then I've blasted past it and now sit at 133 lbs! Occasionally I've had moments where I worried that I am losing too much, or worse that I won't be able to stop losing. I currently get in around 1000-1200 calories a day which I know is too low for me and I still struggle with this but try to get in the calories I need now to maintain my weight. My "DO SOMETHING" weight is 140 lbs. If somehow I find myself nearing/approaching/above that mark, that's when I will take control and do a pouch test (& potentially revert to mushies again) to ensure that I stay below that magic number.
For exercise, I've been working with a trainer for the last few weeks to bring back some strength to my body. I have not exercised until this point. I'm now looking and planning for possible/likely plastics in April 2013. I'm pretty unhappy with how my body looks post-op and would like a mommy makeover to have my body look in person like it does in my mind.
Here is my pre and post -op pics!
PRE OP Size 18-20 XL/XXL

AND TODAY!
Size 4-6 XS/S!!!


Tell me about your journey! How has the last year been for you?
No matter how much you've lost, you are a success story!!! Celebrate it in this thread!

VJSlim & ChristineS NY - thank you! I FEEL amazing!!!
Thank you!! You're welcome! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one worried about losing too much!!!
Congratulations on your new sleeve! i'm excited for you to be at the beginning!!!

weight before sleeve? 223 lbs
weight After Sleeve ? 133 lbs
How many weeks is your sleeve? 11.5 months
did you start to gain weight already ? NOPE!

Thank you bella! You're right where everyone stalls so take hope that it will pass! Biggest things I can pass on to new slivers are:
Try and stay off the scale if you can, it will only determine your moods.
MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE!!
The very first thing you ever eat should have Protein in it. At ALL times. Make sure its your make food source. I did not stay away from carbs or sugars on purpose, it just kind of happened because by the time I had my few bites of protein, I was full and didn't want the rest!
Good luck to you, a year from now, you'll be where I am today!

Thank you bella! You're right where everyone stalls so take hope that it will pass! Biggest things I can pass on to new slivers are:
Try and stay off the scale if you can, it will only determine your moods.
MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE!!
The very first thing you ever eat should have Protein in it. At ALL times. Make sure its your make food source. I did not stay away from carbs or sugars on purpose, it just kind of happened because by the time I had my few bites of protein, I was full and didn't want the rest!
Good luck to you, a year from now, you'll be where I am today!

Of course I don't mind! Thanks for the credit and kudos, I do appreciate it very much. By looking at your signature it appears you're quite the success story!! Wonderful job!!

The first ingredient in success is positivity. The first ingredient in positivity is a good self esteem. The first ingredient in a good self esteem is happiness. The first ingredient in happiness is success.

Excuses I could have made this morning: I woke up late. I'm sleepy. My muscles ache from my tough workouts yesterday. I don't wanna get out of my comfy bed. I haven't finished my coffee yet. I worked out a lot yesterday so I can skip today. I just don't feel like it. NOW... I STILL DID MY WORKOUT THIS MORNING!!! Not only that, I plan to workout several more times too. What's your excuse?

VJSlim & ChristineS NY - thank you! I FEEL amazing!!!
Thank you!! You're welcome! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one worried about losing too much!!!
Congratulations on your new sleeve! i'm excited for you to be at the beginning!!!

Anorexia nervosa is a psychological disorder in which certain criteria have to be met in order to be diagnosed with it (including a BMI under 18, IIRC). Now if you lost all of your weight and ate a restrictive diet and met all of the other criteria of anorexia nervosa, then yes, you could be diagnosed as having anorexia nervosa.
Just eating low calories in and of itself is not anorexia nervosa, especially when it is a medically monitored restriction. Obese individuals have a lot of body fat. Our bodies have evolved to store fat and the burn it during times of calorie restriction. Us obese individuals are like the x-men of fat storage In any case, the body burns fat to get its energy. The doctors use the high Protein diet to ensure that what we do eat is providing enough Protein and amino acids so that our bodies don't burn muscle too (although some level of muscle loss happens, obese indivudals usually have higher muscle mass to begin with from carrying the extra weight).
Anorexia as a word is just as a general term just means loss of appetite. In that sense, the post-operative healing period is a surgically induced anorexia (loss of appetite). Once the stomach has healed and the swelling goes down, the calorie counts can go up and appetite returns even if it is not at the same level as pre-op. IMO, its that post-operative period where the "magic" happens. There is little desire or ability to eat, so eating on the restrictive diet plan is much easier to accomplish compared to just sticking to the same diet without the surgery. That's why they push for you to be at or near goal at 6-12 months. It seems that 6-12 period is where the stomach completely heals, people are having more of a desire to eat, and people have learned to eat with their new stomachs so it becomes harder to meet the goal. That's just my opinion though.

Tons of options. Obviously, any sort of fish, poultry, pork, beef, game meats, seafood. Dairy - Greek yogurt, leaner cheeses, skim/lowfat milk. eggs, egg whites. And, of course, anything you can mix Protein Powder in, ranging from pudding to homemade banana bread.< /p>

From what I can tell you're pre-op so frankly, at that point, I was doing pretty much all the "bad" things I wasn't supposed to as well. But when I hit my pre-op diet, it was game-on. I think I had my first drink post op a couple months out. It was a (canadian) caesar (clamato and vodka) and I regretted it as I was very dehydrated and a MAJOR lightweight (1 drink)... pre op, I was used to drinking several drinks over an evening.
Now, at 1 yr post op, I have a glass or 2 of wine over a couple of hours and I'm feeling it. ALOT. More than that, I'm stumbly.
Make good choices post-op to make the best choices for your weight loss and be aware of the potential of transfer addictions and monitor your intake. Good luck!!!

Welcome fellow successes!
A year has gone by since we all each posted about our nerves going into surgery, our fears, our hopes, trials and tribulations post op... and now we're on the outside looking in... as success stories, as "seasoned sleevers"!
For me, I'm a couple weeks from my one year anniversary and sitting comfortably below goal! I hit goal (149 lbs) a few days before Christmas 2011 and since then I've blasted past it and now sit at 133 lbs! Occasionally I've had moments where I worried that I am losing too much, or worse that I won't be able to stop losing. I currently get in around 1000-1200 calories a day which I know is too low for me and I still struggle with this but try to get in the calories I need now to maintain my weight. My "DO SOMETHING" weight is 140 lbs. If somehow I find myself nearing/approaching/above that mark, that's when I will take control and do a pouch test (& potentially revert to mushies again) to ensure that I stay below that magic number.
For exercise, I've been working with a trainer for the last few weeks to bring back some strength to my body. I have not exercised until this point. I'm now looking and planning for possible/likely plastics in April 2013. I'm pretty unhappy with how my body looks post-op and would like a mommy makeover to have my body look in person like it does in my mind.
Here is my pre and post -op pics!
PRE OP Size 18-20 XL/XXL

AND TODAY!
Size 4-6 XS/S!!!


Tell me about your journey! How has the last year been for you?
No matter how much you've lost, you are a success story!!! Celebrate it in this thread!

weight before sleeve? 223 lbs
weight After Sleeve ? 133 lbs
How many weeks is your sleeve? 11.5 months
did you start to gain weight already ? NOPE!

VJSlim & ChristineS NY - thank you! I FEEL amazing!!!
Thank you!! You're welcome! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one worried about losing too much!!!
Congratulations on your new sleeve! i'm excited for you to be at the beginning!!!

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you look great!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for sharing!!!!! true inspiration!!! i got sleeved this past Thursday April 5!

You look AMAZING! Congrats to you!!! So inspiring!

Thank you for this post. You look fantastic. Your before pictures are cute too, but your after photos are WOW.
I'm not a year out yet, but I have some of the same concerns about losing too much, etc.
I love seeing success stories!

OMG! Look at you! You are absolutely fantastic!! What an inspiration! Congrats!