mnbsleeve

Glad to hear you are doing well! I am also 58 and had my sleeve 2 weeks ago. At the beginning I wondered what a woman MY age was doing here. Your post gave me inspiration. I guess it is NOT when you sleeve, but that you DO sleeve!

I had the noises from the tummy too... sounded like Water sucking down the drain! It almost went away... just now and then a little peep. As far as the sweet thing... I hated sweet in the beginning... but the approach I took was... its medicine right now. Sometimes medicine tastes yuck. The idea early out is not to stress your tummy... not make it work too hard until it starts to heal. To avoid leaks. So keep it liquid and squishy... maybe some chicken stock with a tablespoon of instant potatoes, or I used to make chai tea lates with soy... and added some unflavored whey Protein powder... not too hot or it curdles....I was lactos intolerant for the first 4 months too. I drank some drinks I wouldnt touch with a ten foot pole now! But time went by quickly, and I took my medicine and now I can eat anything I like. Hang in there, the time will fly. Get help for your depression if you need to...keep up the walking and don't forget to enjoy the ride of your life!

THANK YOU so much for your post!!!! I have Trader Joes nearby and can see I have NOT been taking advantage of it. I'm not very good at this investigating phase so your ideas were very, very helpful. Thank you again for posting. You've also inspired me to look!! DUH!!! :-)

Congratulations Kristy!!! You look incredible!!! I would not recognize you as the same person. You've really rocked this sleeve girl!!!!

I see all the pics everyone posts and everytime I just smile. The sleeve has brought out the inner fashionista in all of us. I just love how much more confident and happy we all are when we pose for pictures. I am sure this translates over into everyone's daily life as well. Keep doing what you are doing. You are making yourself a healthiear person for yourself and your family. We here always saw you shine and now you are shining from the outside as well as the inside. Rock those fashion forward clothes, rock that smile and that new born confidence that has been hiding and most of all rock your sleeve! You all inspire me to keep fighting the good fight.

The power of ONE pound!!! You were healthy and beautiful BEFORE the loss of this pound but didn't know it. I am really glad to see that this mental hurdle you had, has been blown to pieces. :hug: Congratulations!

AWESOME!!!!!

OH MY LORD! I just got home and got a coupon card from Beverly Hills Physicians...coincidence or not??? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great post Coops, and a great NSV! This is the best one can hope for: to use this tool not just to loose the weight but to truly change destructive habits in the process. I really loved reading that is is really possible. Congratulations!!!! You're an inspiration!!!!!

Irene! What can I say? You are amazing!!! Your wonderful attitude has gotten you through AND has inspired so many of us. You warm my heart. When I see your name on a post, I immediately smile! You deserve all this wonderful success!!!!! I love that you are living your dream!!!! You go girl!!!!!! Show off that beautiful YOU - insides and outsides!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! XO XO XO

Carrie, I don't have much to add but I wanted to lend my support and say hang tight. Time will fly and before you know it, you will be on your way. Others have already given you wonderful suggestions. I just wanted to wish you luck with this journey and your health! You sound so determined and ready to make a change. I look forward to reading about your progress! Be well!

Just wait until those people start to see the pounds shed off of you and your life turn around...then they will be begging to know what you are doing. That is when you proudly say that you had weight loss surgery and it saved your life! Now that I have lost 105 lbs I tell anyone and everyone how I did it. I am an advocate to weight loss surgery for weight loss when you have failed at diet attempts. I think it takes a considerable amount of courage and intelligence to undergo this form of weight loss and anyone who does so should be extremely proud of their decision to add 10 to 15 years to their life expectancy. Good luck and hold your head high knowing that you are one of the lucky few that will actually be fulfilling their new years resolution this year!

I concur on it being PRIVATE. If anyone asks me how I lost weight, I will just tell them with lots of hard work and dedication and I won't be telling a lie. It isn't their business and it is personal and private. Only my immediate family knows. Hubby, Kids and Mom because they deserve to know and I will need their support.

I would like to say this is very personal for me. Before I ever knew about any weight loss surgery, I would always pray and ask God to help me lose this weight and I didn’t try many diets, but what I did do is started to eat more healthier and excised five days a week and when I go to the gym I didn’t play I worked hard at first I started to see this weight drop off. I was excited then four months down the line the pounds just stop coming off and I started to change my routine up with the help of some the personal trainer in gym, I attend and I would see a few pounds leave but then I would just be working out to maintain the weight I was at, not gaining nor losing. So, I kept praying asking God and I started to seek things that help a little but the same results and I end up just losing money, then one morning after I was in prayer I got on the computer and I tell you WLS just kind of jump out at me. I then went back into prayer and I ask God if it be His will, could I have this surgery and if so make a way for me, and give me the strength to do what is needed to be successful with this tool.
So, I started the process and only my youngest two children knew what I was doing, because they live with me and I had already started making life changes in my household with food, they knew my journey and seen what I had been doing. I told them what I had been praying about and ask did they want to go with me to the seminar and they went ask lots of questions and they are my biggest fans/supporters now. I told my oldest son and he said no mama that’s dangerous even though we use to work out together when he lived closer to me, and I had to tell him any surgery is dangerous and if I had any other disease that was life threating and surgery would be a tool to help me be healthy I would have it, I had to explain that obesity is a disease and he seen what I had been doing to help myself and it didn’t work out for me, so now I am getting a tool that will help me be successful with this weight loss and he is content, I haven’t told my oldest daughter yet and don’t know when I would tell her only because she can’t hold Water when it comes to family. A few others people maybe four or five that are very close and they are supportive with my decision. Oh yeah my parents and siblings don’t know either.
I am saying all this to you because this is a personal decision you have to make and live with the rest of your life. I do not depend on people, not even the surgeon, I put all my trust in God and my faith lies in Him to see me through this process and anything else I may have to go through in life, because He created me and knows this body better than me.
For I am not ashamed about the work that will be done in me, I will wear this sleeve like I was born with it.
I pray that you will have peace with the decision that you will make, and not be ashamed of becoming healthy with or without a tool, based on your needs and wants out of this life, you only have one life and I hope that you live it to the fullest in Jesus Name. Amen!!!
God bless you,
Gina

I told nobody except my husband, not even my own mother knows and she is my bff.!!
I think people can be so negative and just down right mean about the subject. Just the other day, I was talking to my unlce's gf and she was telling me about a friend of her's that had lap band and how she "would never" do something like that!!! why not just diet and exercise and do it "THE RIGHT WAY"!! I was so offended. What is the right way is what I wanted to say, but I didn't. My husband sat there snickering and we laughed later. It isn't like I sit on the couch on my A$$ and eat bon-bons all day long and lose 5lbs at the end of the week. It DOES NOT work that way!!!
But, that is how ignorant people are. They really are un-educated and have not a clue that you still have to exercise and eat right. I have worked harder to lose every lb since my surgery than I ever have in my entire life and THAT MY FRIENDS is THE HONEST TRUTH!! There is not a magic trick or pill. Nothing about this is easy!!!.
I may tell my mom in a couple weeks when I see her-she lives in another state, but for now, only my husband knows. I tell people I eat low carb and high Protein and that I exercise. That is the truth, I just omit the part about the VSG.
Kelly

For me, I have absolutely no shame at all. Unlike others, I do not struggle that I needed this to be healthy. I don't have perfectionist issues and don't feel as if I've let myself down that I didn't do the 'hard' or 'right' way. I do not feel like a failure. And I am very open and outgoing, to the point of shocking people sometimes . All who know me know that TMI does not apply to me! You want info, I'll give you info!! Lol. I am not a private person.
That being said, I've told no one but my closest friends and my hubby and my parents - those who I KNOW will support me. I've learned through years of research with weight loss surgery and being on boards like this for years on the Band, GB, etc, that people are, and can be, very negative. Yes, some are supportive and helpful, but there is, unfortunately, a stigma attached with is unfair and wrong. And I did/do not want to deal with people's biases and opinions. I have a co-worker out of another office down south and we all went to the company holiday party last year and she had lost about 100 lbs in a year. A group of us were standing in a circle telling her she looked amazing and she was just glowing. She was so proud and happy. One person asked her, of course, how she did it and before she could open her mouth, one of her close co-workers said derisively, 'Oh, she had weight loss surgery'. Like she had contracted herpes or something. Well, obviously, her face fell, her glow went away, and in one simple statement, that one person completely minimized everything she had done, everything she had struggled with, every work out, every salad vs. doughnut decision we still have to make. It was so wrong and unfair. And yes, we can tell ourselves that those things won't bother us, and that what we know is what matters, but sorry, it's such bullsh*t. It still hurts and it still minimizes our success and what we have done.
So I decided I wouldn't give people's ignorance, or jealously, or nay-saying (the one that always says, "oh, so-and-so had that done and GAINED IT ALL BACK") a chance to piss on my parade, or negate my accomplishments.
But, I did decide, that if someone overweight asked me, I would completely open and honest with them. To be able to share with them all this wonderful opportunity really is. It's like having the cure for cancer, and when another cancer patient asks you how, you have to tell them! Not quite as extreme, but you know what I mean. You truly WANT to share with someone who knows what struggles and pain you have lived with your whole life.
That was my decision....in a nutshell, lol. I can get a little wordy!!

I'm starting to hear the Rocky theme music ....

My cardiologist told me "plain and simple, your body is working against you!" I also have PCOS and have struggled with infertility and weight. While I've always had zero cholesterol, low blood preasure, great blood sugar, I do great stress tests on treadmill (always been active), excellent EKG etc. (all evidence of healthy living) I could not loose the darn weight. At least not significant amounts. I MUST keep my calories to about 800 and that is very difficult to do without a sleeve in the long run. I just turnd 49 so things were not getting any easier for me. BTW, I have completed a few sprint distance tri s, several cycling events and a number of 5Ks and 10ks. This while overweight! pre-surgery! I read "Slow Fat Triathlete" a few years ago and it encouraged me to not give up living an active life style for being fat (great book by the way!). But I dont' want to be fat anymore!!!! I was told, not by my surgeon, but my cardiologist, that I was a great candidate for this surgery because my body was working against me and I was willing to do the work long term. So it's not "easy." EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT I am just sharing my experience. I envy that you are just 26! This was not available for me at that age. Lots of us here on this board have said we regret we did not have this done sooner!!! LOL I wish you the best of luck on this journey Estelle. I know it can be challenging at many different levels!

Hi Chunky! I don't have much to add to the great advice others have given. I just want to add my support and say congratulations on all the effort you are putting into this phase. You will get through it!!! and it will be so worth it!!!!! Hang in there! We are all rooting for you!!!!

You've received excellent advice already. I just want to add that, keep an eye to the future. This is just for this year, in the future when you are at goal, you will once again be able to participate in all the fun - even when they are surrounded by food. You will have your sleeve as backup to keep you from eating too much, which is so freeing, I can't even begin to tell you!!
Blessings, and have fun socializing today.

It's almost impossible for the sleeve not to work. I mean, you'd have to try awfully hard eating absolutely terrible foods to actually GAIN with 85% of your stomach gone.
Now, does that mean you'll reach goal? No. You have to do the head work to get the eating under control. Grazing isn't good behavior, but if you choose the sleeve and continue to graze I'd highly suggest you be doubly diligent about logging your food. You MUST log your food or it's easy not to realize how much you're eating and to live in total denial about your food choices.
The VSG will remove 85% of your stomach and leave your entire brain behind. So any food addictions, overeating problems, coping mechanisms - any food issues you have are still going to be there. The sleeve is going to keep you from sucking down a Big Gulp slurpee in one shot. It's going to keep you from eating half a pizza. But it's not going to choose healthy food choices for you or make you stop bad habits. So you have to really evaluate what's going on when you eat before you can stop that. Yes, you can "abuse" the sleeve and not lose weight. I think it would be a real challenge. I'm no role model. I follow the rules about 60% of the time. I'm a SLOW loser as a result but I don't gain weight. So to me, imagining someone actually gaining back is bizarre. But yeah, you could easily eat such crap, even in small portions, that you won't lose. So if you think this will be an issue, I recommend some counseling or support group time before you opt for surgery again.
I was in absolute denial about my overeating and my food behaviors until post op. It's been a struggle at times but I wouldn't trade my surgery for anything. I'm totally happy with my choice.
Now, about your husband. Look, my husband was the exact same way before my sleeve. He liked me bigger, has never been attracted to skinny women, etc. Once I told him how I feel and why I want this surgery he was supportive. We've still had some tug-o-war over the fact that I'm now thinner than he prefers. But as long as I've given him the option to vent he's felt like I'm taking his opinion into consideration, too.
I won't lie - your lack of success with the band is already going to be an issue. He didn't want you to lose weight and now he's watched you struggle post op. Convincing him to jump on board for another surgery will not be easy. I hope that you'll do what's best for you but also try to take his feelings into consideration. Sometimes if both partners aren't on the same page it can get ugly as the weight falls off. I don't say that to worry you. It's a very real thing. I recommend you search the forums here for more posts about this post op relationship stuff. But the general rule seems to be that if you're on the same page and doing well before the sleeve you do great post op. If you're not both on the same page it sometimes causes friction.
Look. It is genuinely hard for our husbands to understand WHY we feel the need to lose weight. My husband took it as a sign that his love and acceptance of me just wasn't enough. Communicate and figure out where you both stand on this before charging ahead and you should be fine.
Good luck. Do lots of research and scope out this board for a good long while before making a choice. I think I watched the boards for five months before even creating an account, and watched another seven months after that before having surgery. I wanted to see the real story about the sleeve and feel like I knew what to expect after surgery. It worked really well for me.
~Cheri

First, EVERYONE is different. Especially men vs. women. So comparing to your husband is asking for frustration.
That said, no, I wouldn't consider 30 pounds in a year a great success. I'm not trying to be harsh! It's awesome that you've lost 30 pounds but obviously you didn't remove most of your stomach for a smaller result.
Yes, LOG YOUR food. Do it. If you don't you slip into denial about what you're really eating. Track everything - even a single jelly bean should go into your food log. If you don't do this, you have no idea how many calories, carbs, etc. you're eating.
Get your metabolism tested if possible. If not, simply adjust your calories downward from 1200 until you start losing and hang there until you need to adjust again. I was told over and over again that my basal metabolic rate was close to 2000 calories and that on a 1200 calorie diet I'd lose two pounds a week.
In reality, after testing we discovered that I have a highly efficient metabolism (curses!) and my BMR is actually less than 1400 calories a day. That means that on a 1200 calorie diet, I can reasonably expect to lose just over a pound a month.
So, if you can get tested with the breathing test, DO IT. If not, just track calories for a few days and then fix what's wrong.
Not everyone carb counts but I suggest that if you're not active you keep them on the lower side. There are dozens for free sites that allow you to track your food. So do it. Honestly. There is no better thing you can do to control you intake.
I'm not an exerciser and firmly believe that while exercise is good for your body and can reshape it, that it doesn't always help us lose weight. But being more active is always a good thing so please try to work more activity into your daily routine. Even simple things like taking the stairs, parking farther away and enjoy a walk will help you feel better mentally and physically. If you want exercise to help you lose weight you have to really bring it - you can't fool around with a 20 minute walk every day and expect it to do much.
If all else fails, do the pouch test. Reassure yourself that your sleeve is still working, break the bad cravings and jump on board.
Only you can do this. You need to evaluate why you're not losing and what's going on in your head. If you "reset" and still can't lose, get a barium swallow to reassure yourself that your sleeve is still there and in good shape. But honestly, in almost all cases it comes down to us not doing the head work and having to accept that we need to change to lose weight. I've had to reset a number of times myself, so I understand this.
Take care and I wish you the best!
~Cheri

I'm not your age but I was close to your starting weight. I always enjoyed seeing people around my starting stats and their progress. Maybe you'll feel the same. I'm almost 5'2" and started at 242 pounds. Now I'm 16.5 months out and down to 138 pounds.
I have a reaction post op to both lactose (I'm highly intolerant now) and artificial sweeteners. What I would do is pull one of those from your diet for a few meals and see how you react. For me, it was immediately clear what was causing the problem. If you're having trouble even with things like Crystal Light, the issue is clearly the sweeteners. If you suspect it's lactose intolerance, try swapping out for soy milk or rice milk for a day and see how it goes. The big offenders with lactose intolerance are milk (even Lactaid, in my case), yogurt and cottage cheese. I didn't start to have a problem with soft cheeses until later on. Try cutting out some of those items to see how you feel.
Sugary things still make me feel sick. I just can't eat them and don't enjoy them. I get a sick feeling if I overindulge so it's easy to avoid these things now.
We all worry about being a failure, I think. I'm a slower loser than a lot of folks and there were times when I wondered if 60 pounds was all I would lose. It's very hard not succeed at this surgery. If you aren't trying your damnedest to suck down milkshakes and force down bacon double cheeseburgers, you're going to lose weight. Your stomach isn't going to make smart food choices for you, but it IS going to keep you from eating half a pizza, I promise.
So this early in the game you should be focusing on first, figuring out the nausea so that you can improve your day to day life. Then, follow the rules. Expect to be human, expect to slip occasionally. But follow the rules 99% of the time and you're going to reach goal in no time. I'm a horrible role model. I follow the rules about 60% of the time but guess what? I'm going to reach goal in the next month...and in the long run does it really matter if it took me 17 months vs. 10 months? Nope.
Enjoy it. Learn to live with this surgery and learn to love it, too. You're going to have to make changes but you'll do just fine if you're prepared for that.
~Cheri

Oh boy...it just keep getting more and more irritating.......Yes woman are mostly the ones I deal with.......I need to learn to get over this...I know...it's just easier said than done.
I am so happy with myself, what I have accomplished and my weight loss.
The outside of me has changed dramatically ...but not the inside! I am still Lydia..I wish others could figure that out!

DallasMom, I have the cure for your buyer's remorse. Go the the VSG Success Stories section of this site and start reading. There are tons of posts from people who have lost 100, 150, 200 pounds and more after having this surgery! It's not a fluke.
Granted, those people have done what was required and changed their eating habits and added exercise to their routines. You're doing all of that, right? If you aren't, now is a good time to start walking. The sleeve is a tool, which we all know, but WE affect how well the sleeve works for us.
The weight IS really coming off super-fast. How many times before have I lost 57 pounds within 3 months? How about NEVER! It just seems slow because we read these huge numbers on here and go WOW. But, look a little deeper. When I see someone who has lost a tremendous amount of weight compared to me, I always look to see what their starting weight was and what gender they are. Inevitably, the person who has lost 140 pounds three months out is a MAN and he weighed over 400 pounds.
Men lose faster than women. Men also seem to work out more than (most) women and they get results faster, IME. And, those who are super heavy to start with lose faster than those who were in the lower BMI category. I lose faster than many others on this site, but I started at 352 with a 54.9 BMI.
I'm working my sleeve and doing all I can to be successful with my weight loss. But, I know that I will still be working harder than many of my thinner sleeve sisters, and working for longer to reach goal, just because of my weight. And, I will reach the point of diminishing return. Right now, I get great results from working out 3 times a week. Soon, I will have to up the number and intensity of my workouts to get the same results. I'm not complaining...that's just the way it works.
The closer you are to goal, the harder it gets. I read stories from people all the time who are less than 30 pounds from their goals. They all say something similar about the last few pounds. It is hard to get those last few pounds off and they are working 10 times as hard as I am right now. We WILL be those people in a few months! I am looking forward to it, personally.
Lastly, it took me literal years to get this fat. I've worked very hard at it. I know that I will have to work very hard to get un-fat. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I'm looking forward to being un-fat!