CowgirlJane

The surgery has been very very worth it -don't get me wrong - saved my life. I am finding it hard to maintain that BMI of 23-25 which is a very ideal range vanity wise.

Thanks beachgurl...I just didn't find anything when I tried looking.

3 years out and you would be amazed - yes you can gain weight eating only a cup of food at a time. It seems incomprehensible in the early stages I don't eat "diet food" but i do generally follow a carb controlled plan because carbs make me ravenously hungry. That means I skip bread, rice, Pasta, pizza, potatoes etc., limit fruits.... so i mostly eat Protein and veggies. I completely ignore the recommendations from my fitness pal etc because I have come to understand how my body responds to a way of eating - and moderate to low carb is what I NEED to do in order to have a chance at controlling hunger. (I am maintaining about 160# weight loss)

Taking the test was hard because some of the answers are different pre versus post sleeve. I came up as a "constant Craver" but not by much. I think pre op i was both a constant craver and a feaster - and they both scored the highest on the quiz.

Veterans forum would be a great place for you, but you need 100 posts to post there. Welcome some new peeps, congrats on successes etc and before you know it you will have 100 posts. I strongly recommend low carbohydrate diet to help manage hunger. It's tough, but for many of us the surgery alone isn't enough....you must be quite diligent. I started at 308, got as low as 140, currently maintaining around my goal weight of 158. My sleeve was 3 Years ago.

Ann I don't track so I don't actually know. What I observe is I seem to need less than I did a year ago. I was injured by that lousy personal trainer and so stopped my uber high intensity workouts since I was in physical therapy and then summer came..and then I got distracted. So I am still active but haven't been working out hard like I used to. I suspect that I have lost muscle so that is part of the issue. I used to have very defined arm, shoulder and leg muscles....now, not so much. I am starting kickboxing next week though!

Ok I have seen people tag me but haven't seen any notifications.....

When I had plastics. .. no drains for the breasts. They healed great and no visible scars. Glad you are feeling good now! I didn't have liposuction but I have heard it is more painful than reconstructive plastic surgery!

I am curious about the research on how alcohol during weight loss causes brain damage. That is a new one for me - never seen or heard of that. I have been at goal for awhile and like i mentioned I chose to not drink during the losing phase, but I am curious.

I didn't drink during weight loss phase - empty calories. i went to a celebration about 4 months post op and that itty bitty glass of wine burned my tummy. Proceed with caution. Now that I am at goal I lean toward either red wine (but recently discovered the one I like the best seems to have had sugar added!!! wtf?) or liquor with Water or soda water and some lime. Yes, soda water has some fizz... but i drink slow and it goes flat fast.

I lost 5.5# from plastics. I had very little fat left so didn't need lipo.

Ann - good point - a man who is trying to maintain 280# is in a whole different "eating situation" than someone like me hoping to maintain in the 140s.... I never had the expectation that I would be able to just eat whatever I want. I was pretty realistic going in, but the reality of this day after day, year after year... well... it's real.

I do like that image of modeling good behavior. Actually, it was funny but we were talking about mixed drinks at a local bar and i told them that I choose a vodka soda with lime - and my colleague said something about how that was pretty dang healthy for a mixed drink..ha This is what success looks like. Well, one version of it anyway. I am not perfect, I fail pretty regularly in fact, but i get back up and keep going. It sometimes gets tiring, something I am not sure I related to even a year ago. I think THAT is an important message for newbies. I am astounded by the number of posts from people who never get to goal, or who get to goal and then have a regain and they are shocked by the experience - like they didn't "get" that the weight slides back on after the honeymoon period if you don't really manage it aggressively. The surgery is absolutely what I needed to get to where I am at, so I do not intend to be discouraging, but rather realistic. Anybody who thinks that maintaining a massive weight loss over the long haul is easy certainly isn't walking in my shoes. I hope it is easier for others, I really do. I thought for quite awhile that i could eat more than i really should (meaning, if i eat that much I regain).... Some posts made by people in the honeymoon period make it sound easier than i think it really is over the long haul. I can think of a few people who don't actually post here anymore that were gung ho perfect exercise and "food planners" and I do wander if they have sustained that over time. I am determined to continue to walk a liveable balance between weight management and enjoying life. Some days are just harder than others.

My surgeon did not give goals. The rationale was to not discourage someone like me (high BMI). They said that sometimes people lose 100# but are bummed because they didn't meet the goal and lose 150# for example. My personal goal was to get under 200# and MAINTAIN it. Then, when I got under 200# i decided to go for a goal weight of 158 which meant I lost a nice round 150#. I lost more after that (and have regained some so back to goal!) but i keep my goal at 158.

Rake (Australian show) Z Nation, Walking Dead, Call the Midwife, Orange is the New Black, Shameless (there is both a British and USA version) and many great documentaries!

So, I am hanging out right at my goal weight, which is higher than my lowest weight. I knew this was very likely to happen and so on the one hand, i am okay with it, but on the other hand, I feel fatigued by it. I know that I need to stabilize/re-lose a few pounds to keep that "cushion" between me and the 200s or 300s.... but I grow tired of it sometimes In the past, that seemed very do-able. Buckle down, go back to basics, do Protein first, do 5:2, change up exercise. For whatever reason, right now, while it seems possible I had one of those pity parties where I asked myself what is fair about me eating a pittance of food, spinning on my bike and yet still struggling to keep a normal weight. I watch others eat a whole lot more than me and I sometimes want to eat with abandon too. The thought crossed my mind... is this REALLY worth it?!??!??? Then, I thought about the people I was comparing my eating to. Example - I went into the office yesterday and did a day long workshop so got to see people eat lunches - large portions and of course Cookies for snack later. The two ladies i sat next to are considerably younger than me - one is obese and the other is morbidly obese by my judgement. I had to remind myself that they are still healthy, but they are heading down my former path and I cannot let myself go back or else i go back to feeling ill, feeling like i was becoming disabled, feeling hopeless. Anyway, it is worth it, but this is the first time I have ever really questioned it. I think I understand a bit more why people regain years out from surgery. We all know that you have to maintain a healthy lifestyle etc but I am telling you - my experience is that "lifestyle changes" UNDERSTATES the level of effort required. I don't even really eat junk food, but I still need to really watch what I eat - this is beyond "healthy choices" this is eating very small, eating the right things very consistently or else I will regain. This whole thing about an average healthy woman needing 1800-2000 calories a day to maintain is bogus. i don't eat anywhere near that and I know many of my fellow vets that are maintaining don't either. So, as I used to say, but haven't in awhile...."carry on... what choice do we really have?"

I will check that out - thanks Cathy! Well, I dropped the water weight and I am back to where I was a week ago. sheesh. This is hard. I realized yesterday that while I don't feel blue or depressed, I am not my same ole self. One of my friends texted and called for days asking if I was depressed - when we finally talked live I was like "what?" and he said that i had NEVER turned down an invite to go out and have fun and I have been doing that lately (he and his gfriend had asked me to join them for an evening out). It was true - i had multiple invites for both Friday and Saturday night and blew them all off - basically stayed in all weekend except I took my son out to eat. I found myself wanting to be home rather than "out" which is totally opposite of my normal.... That in and of itself is maybe no biggie, but I have felt hermit like for weeks now and that just isn't me. Anyway, last night I made myself do a social event and I had so much fun at it! I am not depressed over Kevin by any stretch - in fact having him GONE makes me realize I wasn't really enjoying much of the being with him. I think I do feel discouraged about relationships topic - but what else is new? Seahawks to the superbowl again - this town is pretty excited about that!

Sounds like a fun concert.. woohoo! I saw the link about the outlet reduction procedure, but aren't you getting long term results from the nasal tube treatment? That was one of their claims - but I don't understand how.

Go back to 4-5 mini meals a day all starting with Protein, small amount of veggies and that is pretty much it. The idea is eat often enough to prevent that getting too hungry/making bad decisons. I am a big advocate of low carbing and 5:2 also helped me. There are a few of us working on these little regains....

I had the works...pain was not an issue, but it kicked my butt. I was off work for 6 weeks.

Low carb. Hate auto correct

I agree on the owner carb

Denise, I am not a medical person, but an infection that returns when antibiotics stop is nothing to fool with. This is the 3rd round of infections? Time to get theeself to a wound specialist. I am so empathetic about losing parents... the decline, the loss. I had about 10 years of hell between aging parents, dying other relatives (including my sister). I feel like I had to face all that way too young - still in my early 40s. I still had little kids, a growing career, it was a nightmare. It had a big negative impact on me, I hope you are able to manage your way through this better than I did. I can't believe it, I regained my 5:2 losses and am back to 163. I want to weigh 143. I didn't go wild, I was just lazy and low activity this weekend. I was not eating excessively in the least - this was the wakeup call that I need to eat really small to maintain weight and I have been eating too much for months and am paying the price. And in spite of my aches and pains, I NEED to get back on the high intensity exercise train. Damn.

It has happened but it is a rare problem. If a person has a complication might prevent adequate intake. If a person develops an emotional aversion to eating, it could happen. I think about 99 percent of us have to work to get to goal and stay there. I am 3 years out and just don't see this as a major worry.

Well I think it is a mistake to let your child (as grown as he may be)influence you. He doesn't know what it is like to have obesity have such a strangle hold. My sons are now early 20s and the WLS scared them at the time too. Now, it is a distant memory and they don't recognize my obese photos - like that was another life. However I will say that nobody ever thought I didn't try enough things pre surgery. I tried everything except drugs to lose weight (I did try the hormone drops). Everyone that knows me recognized that year after year I might win a few battles I was definitely losing the war. Lose, regain it plus more......finally turned into couldn't even lose anymore. I probably did so well post sleeve because I had tried so hard and so long by myself that finally having an effective tool (sleeve) to help made all the difference and was very motivational. If it were me, I would want to really believe that I needed the surgery to save my life. It is a drastic measure. Its not the easy way out, but at some point, the ONLY way out.