CowgirlJane

With the band I was hungry and in pain. Hard to explain but I never felt comfortable satiated. At first with the sleeve I followed the NUT guidelines to the letter because I didn't trust my body. About 4 months out I started practicing eating more intuitively which meant learning to stop before full...eat till absence of hunger. It took practice but now 2.5 years later it is my new habit and it has worked to help me maintain.

It's a normal fear and honestly statistics show revisions have poorer results. I believe we make our own luck so focused on what I could control (lifestyle changes) and learned some lessons from my 10 years of band failure. Result for me was losing over 160 with the sleeve ... I weighed 141 this morning.

I will look for your post but bottom line I treat maintenance like the losing phase only I allow a few more carbs and calories.

Sarah, we need to talk girlfriend! Plastics/cosmetic surgery was both the hardest damn thing and also life changing. I can't really explain it, but I am SO excited for you! I have alot of advice, but I will hold off till you actually need it. I was thinking about starting a post called "size denial" somewhere. Forget about vanity sizing for a moment (ridiculous, but our reality), I keep telling people I wear a size 8 until I saw a horrifying photo of me in size 8 baggy ass jeans. Today, I tried on several brands of jeans - and in all cases I fit a SIZE 4!!!! what? Seriously, I am not tiny. I am 5'5" and weigh in the low 140s. I realize part of that is that the formerly super obese ( I started out over 50 BMI) have extra "weight" from our infrastructure - bones, extra veins and artery size etc. but it is still kinda wild. So, is Florinda so deeply in love she doesn't have time to talk to us girls anymore??? ( I hope so!!!)

I didn't have time to read the replies, so sorry if this is a duplicate, but i am suggesting that you need to tackle this issue head on. I too was pretty high BMI - I lost over 160# since the sleeve and over 180# from my lifetime high. I am completely transformed. I have worked for the same company for over 20 years and have traveled alot for work so know people from around the globe who maybe only see me every year or two. That means that even 2.5 years post op I am dealing with the "OMG - I didn't recognize you!" And from the guys... well... a few "you are hot!". It is alot to take in. Mixed emotions. IT can be overwhelming and I didn't want it to turn my head or make me cocky either. So, I really advise that you map out a plan in your mind how you will deal with this as time goes on. Nobody noticed a thing until I lost about 50. Once I lost about 100 or so everybody thought I looked amazing. Once I lost about 140-150 I started getting a few jealous remarks Now, I am the skinny chick/skinny bitch which i take a total compliment and completely embrace it. I am not embarrassed, I am THRILLED but it definately took some moxie to face all this!

Not sure I understand the question.... but I was told full and complete healing is somewhere in the range of 3-6 weeks. Leaks are often discovered after that time, but it is thought they were small leaks that just weren't detected early. A good question for your surgeon!

I think high quality nutrition is even more important post op. You can get serious deficiencies! I encourage you to focus on good health more than just the scale. Good luck!

Thanks ladies! I was trying to hide from my big 5-0; I did not want one of those over the hill type parties, just depressing to me. A couple of girlfriends were gonna invite me out for a drink and then I invited a few more friends and my oldest son... and then at the last minute I invited Tino. I had a real .. resistance... I guess because I feel so protective of my "worlds" and I seldom let horse friends cross over to family to work and heaven forbid to DATING. I realized that was my old ways of being secretive and protective and I am not like that anymore. I could not believe what a good sport TIno was! He was my designated driver, bought be a huge bouquet of roses AND a tiny model MiniCooper car. Considering he had less than 24 hours notice, I was very impressed. He took me out just the two of us after the little gathering too - he really treats me well it is kinda weird. I have never been woo'ed before I guess. We had a wonderful time and my friends really liked Tino even though he needs education on a few sensitive topics (for the love of heaven, do not breed your pitcross dog - get her spayed!) among the animal lover crowd. Flip side, he is a bit appalled that my critters have run of the place...haha. My lil dog Suzy is winning him over though, the other night she was all curled up on him and even he had to admit that is alot of cute with that pretty poofy tail that never stops wagging and those huge ears and adoring eyes....and pretty hard to resist even if you are the type that think dogs should live in kennels outside and not in the house... Congrats on all the surgiversaries! I was thinking... we should have a pinned thread on the vets forum that people post their status on their 2+ year anniversaries and their current status. I would think that thread would be great reading for newbies!

Someobody mentioned about dating right after surgery - my advice DON'T DO IT. The first months post op can be very emotional, lots of changes etc... bad time to start a new romantic venture in my opinion. My headspace 2.5 years post op is WAY different than it was 1-2 years ago.

Be picky... I haven't had problem with creepy guys really.... but like i said, I PICK THEM. Makes a difference...

patrice, I love what you wrote... all very true! In the end, no one else can "make" us happy or at peace - we need to find that from within! Looks and weight make an initial difference for many visually oriented people (lets be honest, it matters to us women too!) but as patrice said those things really don't matter too much in the long haul. I want to add something else though which is really knowing our own mind and what WE WANT. In other words, don't wait around to be picked! Know your own mind, your wants and needs and your own value! This is a small example - I hid my profile on POF and just contact the guys i am interested in. The quality of men I met improved about 1,000 percent as a result. Instead of getting a zillion emails from completely uninteresting "matches" it resulted in very targeted phone conversations and i only met one of the guys I contacted - I have been seeing him for several weeks now. That is so much better then the 100 coffee meet and greets I went on last time I was on the dating sites. Men like to be the pursue-ers and I know that, but, I don't have time or patience for wasting time sifting through all those emails and first meetings stuff. I had gotten positively jaded on the process before. One thing I realized is that I was sending mixed signals before. I want a relationship but I don't visualize ever getting married or "permanently partnered" again. Basically, I want a boyfriend to travel with, do fun stuff with, enjoy life, be each other's confidant but, not looking for prince charming to change my life, nor do I really want to overhaul his... Maybe I will change my mind, but right now that is how I see it. So I would get wrapped around the axle of whether a guy indicated he was interested in a "relationship" or "nothing serious". I leaned toward men saying they want a relationshp, but then i verbally expressed my headspace after we met and decided we like each other. It helped alot that I had really thought about my wants and desires AND thought about all the great things I have to offer the right person. AGain, the man I am seeing has a strong outgoing personality but he LIKES that I know what I want and can communicate it. Simplifies the who deal...because I am not 20 anymore, not a blank slate anymore and frankly ... my give a damn is busted... so I would rather be home riding my horse then having coffee with someone who doesn't interest me! I don't know that the man I just started seeing is "the right person" but, so far we having a blast hanging out, going boating, enjoying fine food (appetizers for me!), movies (we are both a bit of buffs), talking about investments and financial planning... and while he doesn't want to ride, his daughter is a rider and as things progress I hope to include her in my horsey plans (carefully!)

To quote Garth Brooks...my "wounds have almost healed" My appetite remains good so I am optimistic I am working through that issue.

Had a wonderful birthday celebration but am tired! I shared my concerns about his daughter with Tino and he seemed oblivious. She is a self confident girl who lives with her mom and her mom's boyfriend...but I will proceed with caution. Crazy busy day...more later

Yep. Each procedure has it's pros and cons and it is possible to succeed or fail with any of them. My advice is to really understand each procedure and it's risks, benefits and drawbacks and decide what suits you best. Then, committ. I mean really committ to making it a success! It can be done, just focus on the positive and believe in your goals, believe in yourself.

After loosing alot of weight I had a skin muffin top. The only thing that worked was to avoid clothing that squeezed the skin out over the top. You can do a million ab crunches and if you have excess skin, it will still be there...although time does help some. If your muffin top is not skin - lose weight and get toned. Do some strength training - especially working your core which is abs but also your back etc.

I wore close fitting like bike shorts under a one piece swimsuit in the early months. I felt less self conscious and it kept me from losing my bottoms..haha.

In my opinion, there is no conflict at all. I really believe we should love ourselves at all sizes and ages etc. If you don't, you will never find self love even when you are "thin". Self love runs very deep... or not... and you would be amazed at the number of normal weight, attractive women who lack this. Once you ahve lost weight, you may have excess skin. I am astounded by the numbers of people who seem to despise themselves over that issue. It has been my observation that if there isn't at least some level of self love and acceptance, they are still unhappy after plastic surgery. love yourself, but make the best decisions to live a high quality life - it was increasingly difficult to live that high quality life the heavier and older I got. People tell me I look 10-15 years younger since losing weight and I feel about 20-25 years younger. Just do it - get healthy - there is no conflict.

I feel myself on the verge of needing to take a break from supporting the newbies. I get alot of PMs... basically once failed bandsters realize how much success I had with the sleeve they message me because they are uncomfortable talking about it "publicly". I get it, there is a lot of pressure in the band community because everyone knows that the reason they "fail" is due to poor compliance and they will surely fail again... right. anyway, I do appreciate those that helped me get started on the sleeve journey and I like paying it forward, I am just burned out right now about all the wounded feelings and stuff. Tired of walking on eggshells. Tired of seeing really helpful people like PDXMan for example get just reamed by others who think he is too mean. Screw it.

Well, the good news is that everybody that is freaked out about my not eating enough will be happy to hear that I am back to being hungry...LOL My tummy is actually bloated though. It's weird. I think I need a couple of clean eating days to get back to normal. Last night I was feeling sorta... out of sorts about turning 50 so I had ice cream for dinner. Not really advisable and no wonder I feel gross this morning. Anyway, like all of us here, I know what to do to eat right and be healthy! But, that is after my birthday party this afternoon...

Yes, but I for one developed a lactose intolerance post op so proceed with caution...

Check out the veterans forum - geared for people at least a year out. Lots of us working through maintenance issues... including for some people a bit of regain.

Hi Paul, I lost my weight in my late 40s, in maintenance now. It is very doable, follow the sleeve rules, eat small portions, focus on Protein and veggies, become active. You can do it!

spanx? I am surprised you are feeling this so long after your VSG surgery. Post plastics... that is another story... wanted that support for months after.

Normal stall happens at about that time... don't stress. Besides, it is too late, your surgery is done. Now is the time to make the most of it and get on board to make this journey an amazing success. You can do it!!! I have lost over 160# and am completely transformed.