CowgirlJane

I had the band for 10years and was eating around and through it the last 7or so years....complete fail for me. I weighed 308 at start of sleeve pre op diet, 300 on day of surgery Dec 11 2011. I hit my goal of 158, losing 150# in Feb 2013, 14 months. I have been maintaining and currently weigh 140-142 range so I have been very successful. Sleeve vastly reduced appetite and capacity. Band I was often hungry but eating would cause pain so I ate alot of slider foods. I picked a sleeve practice that had great education, support and follow up. I know my results are considered excellent even for a virgin sleever and maybe not typical but I know it's possible. I went with the sleeve because there were successful stories lkke mine (ladies no longer post here) and I knew it could be done. Best decision ever.

Very normal....spend some time looking at before and after photos, read succese stories, do things that help you remember why you started this...keep your eye on the prize. Promise it gets better....

There is a whole forum dedictated to the topic of plastic and reconstructive surgery - lots of discussions and experiences shared there. I had a lower body lift (tummy tuck, but went around the back too), breast lift and implants arm lift and a "small" thigh lift. For me, pain was NOT a big issue at all. It was very well managed the first few days and never was an issue after that. Recovery however was long, slow and hard! It was 2 months before I had my life back and even longer before i was truly 100% Oh.so.worth it though! I got great results. Good luck!

Beautiful people - Florinda and Jack! I agree with the vanity sizing rant. My size 6's are falling off now... frankly the small tops (well, some smalls don't go around my boobs, but otherwise smalls fit) and 2-4 pants are fitting me. I find that incredulous for someone with a 29-30" waist and 37" hip. When I was 22, and got down to 144 pounds (I weigh 140 now) I wore 9/10s and was surely NOT a small. I also notice - and I thought it was a Seattle thing - so many people going around in yoga pants, PJs and other not really clothes. I think getting fat and miserable is a reasonable diagnosis of the situation. Do remember though that as a formerly obese we are "heavier" then our size. My friend Steven declared me a "skinny chick" based on looks not weight and most people guess i weigh in the 120s not the 140s... heavy bones, heavy organs I guess.

I don't miss it... but I did for awhile feel a bit exposed/naked/noticed without all the fat.

No way to predict it, but when I was younger i lost 85 pounds and the excess skin wasn't bad. I am late 40s, lost over 150 and definately benefited from plastics!

I take the gummies for the same reason - they don't bother my tummy so much. They aren't as good as real bariatric vitamins but I am doing the best i can...

Sounds more like heartburn to me. Sometimes excess acid presents itself in weird ways. It can feel like a strange hunger, a burning feeling, an uncomfortable unsettled feeling. I don't know what a leak feels like but i think most people initial experience feelings of "not right" like they are overall sick rather than stomach pain but maybe someone who experienced a leak can pipe up on that one.

I think it is great advice that if the scale drives you bonkers, only weigh monthly or weekly. In my case, a bounce here and there does not create emotional response but is rather an easy barometer for me. I weigh nearly daily and pay attention to trends rather than a single day. food tracking is an excellent idea for most people, but I did it for a FREAKING LIFETIME pre WLS and got fat doing it. My NUT recognized that for me, food tracking created emotional triggers, feelings of deprivation and stress over if I am doing it right etc, so my weight loss actually accelerated when i stopped tracking. I mentally count Protein and carbs (loosely) instead. I realize this is really not a good idea for many people and most should track to maximize their losses. AS you say, it is the recipe that works for us as individuals. I do think that it is great value to share the story with people just starting out or struggling though - so they can get some ideas on the best road to success!

Thanks Star... I have been floating in the 140 to 142 range for a month or two. I stalk too..haha.

Strange...never heard of this one

Coops - are you thinking about doing arms still? If you need it, I highly recommend a breast lift too. Wow, makes your appearance alot more youthful! I had the small thigh lift and it worked for me because my worst problem was fat pockets on the upper inner thigh. My thighs are still an ugly area but given that huge noticable scar with the long lift, I am pleased with my decision. Lots of middle age women have ugly thighs so I am in good company but no longer have those globs of cellulite and extra skin rubbing between my legs. The arms have been amazing though. People see my arms and don't even notice the scars unless i point them out or am doing something that makes the underside super obvious.

Are you talking about a CPAP? I used to use one too and only gave it up after pretty significant weight loss.

We talked about all the physical weirdness post weight loss on another thread. Well, I have really been suffering some pain. It all started with a gym injury in January that apparently has exposed some "issues" Anyway, sports med doc said it might be weight loss related but he sees people with my issues who were never overweight. I am going to try in addition to Phsycial therapy and chiro... a supportive vest kind of thing for my back. More info to follow... He said a couple of other notable things... "you are a young 49, but you aren't 19". I think that was a realistic expectations comment. He was very worried about my recent loss of appetite and emphasized exactly what follow up needed to happen with my primary care doc. He gave some very compelling reasons and told me to not assume it was related to the sleeve... better safe than sorry. I listened and will be scheduling soon. He also told me I was the most successful weight loss surgery patient he had ever met (in terms of maintaining a large loss and attaining a level of fitness and activity). I thought that was intriguing as there are many of us on this very forum that have lost and maintained significant losses. Wonder how rare that really is?

Once you are post op and in regular foods the reason for low carb is to maximize your weight loss. If your NUT didn't give you an eating plan, ask for one. If you can't really handle low carb, ask her for a plan you can live with. Mine was more moderate carb ( I went low carb later, on my own). I wouldn't add a banana to a Protein drink. If I felt the need to I would slice it into 4 parts, freeze 3 of them, and use 1/4 banana at once. The key is portion control of healthy carbs like fruit. I eat alot of egg beaters, veggies, meat, fish, seafood of all types, lettuce, brocoli and other low carb veggies. The only "fruit" I eat daily are berries as they are lower carb and lower sugar. I don't eat rice, Pasta, bread and most fruits on a regular basis. Sounds strange, but I have lost my "foodie' inclinations and am not bored by food, not particularly interested in it it either. That did NOT happen immediately though.

PDXMan, that is a great post. I will share my "lessons from the other side" -2.5 years post op as well when I have a bit more time. What I will say is that it isn't "one size" fits all but there is a great deal to be learned from people who have been successful. When I was pre-op I studied the most successful people on this forum, listened to my NUT and surgeon and exercise advice.... and I really believe that being open to their wisdom and advice is how I have been able to maintain a loss of over 160# - weighed 140 this morning...woohoo (and I do disagree about the weighing monthly only,one of those individual things, but more on that later!!!)

I asked for best advice from my NUT and it was mentioned above....SMALL portions! Eat till no longer hungry dont strive for full. The first 2 months eat by the measuring spoon and clock because you can't yet trust the hunger signals. I am 2.5 years post op and maintaining and think small portions is why I have good restriction.

If you do low carb you don't eat a whole banana. What phase are you in?

I went to a family Christmas party 5 days post op. I was okay but had to leave exhausted in about 2 hours. Can you reschedule surgery?

Congratulations for catching the regain early. You can turn this around!

Sounds normal to me only 2 months post op. View food as a prescription medication. ..follow instructions for your health. Your appetite will likely return but right now is very common to feel like eating is too much trouble.

HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. So, it is short duration aerobic exercise. You can google it and get the whole skinny, but for example... after a warm up you might do sprints on an exercise bike or running sprints or something. You might do "normal" intensity for 60 seconds and then go "all out" for 30 seconds... repeat 5 times, for example. The overall workout session is much shorter, generally 20-30 minutes. It really really works!

No, I am not leaving this group! I decided that i want to talk more about life as a single girl post WLS, dating etc and would rather do it privately. There is a lot of "stuff" in this topic that has to do with self worth, how we see ourselves etc. Any of you are welcome to join in, but I just started it and haven't done anything yet. However, I had the most amazing date yesterday... boat ride on lake Washington. He was great too - maybe I have found a good one finally. We shall see. Steven has finally just pushed me too far with his disappearing act. Well actually, it isn't that simple. It is his uptick in telling me how he loves me and wants to be with me more and then disappearing that pissed me off. Done. I know he isn't intentionally manipulating me because i don't think he really has that in him, but it is how it feels - manipulative. Done.

Ok, my head is spinning, but the main thing I have gotten out of this is I am back on track with Calcium. I am only taking 500 mg of calcium citrate but i am doing some of the chews AND my premier Protein has 50% of the RDA of calcium - I assume also calcium carbonate but I figure that combo is better then nothing. I am going to order some bariatric Vitamins because I have been doing the kiddo gummys, vit B complex sublingual drops and calcium/Vit D. I think I need to upgrade. Can I ask a huge favor - as someone who really is fairly clueless but always has good bloodwork but gets ill from most vitamins (ie sick to tummy feeling) what should I order? I need a good bariatric multi that won't make me hurl and a better way of getting more calcium citrate since the pills kill my appetite for like 6 hours. I am post menopause and have good Iron stores (even after plastic surgery blood loss!) so don't need iron. My main issue right now is my appetite is poor. I am feeling so excited to weigh 140, but these last 10# came off on their own not according to my plan... a little scary actually. I am okay getting down to 135 but absolutely do not want to get smaller so I need vitamins that don't kill my desire to eat even further.

Something similiar happened to me. I started over 300# and got into the 190s and like you was "acceptably fat" especially for my age (late 40s). I could shop in regular stores and everybody complimented me and I could do things I wanted.... my weight loss slowed to a crawl. I was losing maybe 2 pounds a month. I thought alot about what was holding me back and I realized I had a little fear of being thin. Lots to go with that, but I examined my inner feelings and i decided i wanted to be not overweight anymore and got back on track and pushed through! I got to 158 my goal 14 months post op in Feb 2013. .... that was a loss of 150# So, I maintained that for awhile and then got down to 150 in Sept 2013. Now I weigh about 140. I think I looked pretty good, normal sized at 158. My friend declared me officially a "skinny chick" (another friend called me skinny bitch...haha) so these last few vanity pounds made a difference in looks but not really noticable by me to be honest. I think examining your deep down goals is great, because maybe you are "ok" where you are. If you are not okay and want to lose more, you have the tools to do it.