Back~To~Amy

I can tell you are a non-smoker. A puff or two for a former smoker would never be enough. It usually leads to starting smoking again full force and a long time before quitting again. I quit 6 1/2 years ago and although I never crave them anymore, I would even trust myself with a puff or two.

Wow! I'm sorry your boyfriend is treating you this way. I was in a situation where my partner was very superficial about all kinds of things so I can somewhat relate. I will tell you the best thing I did was get out of the relationship. Obviously, we all have to make our own decision but it sure doesn't sound like he is a very good guy with the way he has treated you and some of the things he's said to you. And, I agree with the psychologist. You will resent him for wanting you more when you are thin. It says to you that you are now good enough and you weren't before. No one needs someone who doesn't love them unconditionally. Life is just too short.
Congrats on your surgery and best of luck to you on your journey!

I can tell you are a non-smoker. A puff or two for a former smoker would never be enough. It usually leads to starting smoking again full force and a long time before quitting again. I quit 6 1/2 years ago and although I never crave them anymore, I would even trust myself with a puff or two.

Wow! I'm sorry your boyfriend is treating you this way. I was in a situation where my partner was very superficial about all kinds of things so I can somewhat relate. I will tell you the best thing I did was get out of the relationship. Obviously, we all have to make our own decision but it sure doesn't sound like he is a very good guy with the way he has treated you and some of the things he's said to you. And, I agree with the psychologist. You will resent him for wanting you more when you are thin. It says to you that you are now good enough and you weren't before. No one needs someone who doesn't love them unconditionally. Life is just too short.
Congrats on your surgery and best of luck to you on your journey!

The pain on your left side isn't really about when you incision heals. If your surgeon is like mine, It is where they cut through the muscle and pulled your stomach out. It will take time to heal. You just have to take it easy and listen to your body until it does.
My tips would be to use an abdominal binder or a Spanx like garment that comes up as high under your breast as you can. That will offer a lot of support and help the pulling and pain. Also, get one of those heated Patches that you can put under the garment on the area that hurts so bad.
Sorry you are in pain, but know it will go away. This is just another part of the process.
Best of luck to you on your journey and congrats on your surgery!

I agree with Marty on this one. I'm not typically a super low carb diet fan only because I feel it is falls more under the "diet" category and because, for me, it is very restrictive, and not sustainable long term. However, I was on a super low carb diet for my preop diet and I lost 14 pounds in two weeks. I'd suggest doing something similar to mine: a shake for Breakfast and lunch and for dinner, 5 oz. of lean Protein with some low carb veggies. If you need Snacks, use lean sources of Protein.< /p>
Good luck to you. You can do this!

I'm sorry you are frustrated right now. Please try and remember that this is your journey and your journey is unique to you. It is really hard not to compare your weight loss with others. I know. I'm 9 weeks out and still struggle with that.
Your weight loss/gain really is all about your body and technical things probably way beyond anything we could ever understand. I weigh every day without fail. However, I only record my weight every Monday. When I weighed in on July 30th, I was up 2 pounds. What did I do "wrong" that week? Absolutely nothing. I wasn't happy, but it happens. However, when I weighed in this past Monday, I was down 5.6. What did I do different from the week I gained? Absolutely nothing. It is just how my body is processing my eating habits. If you think about it, it really is just crazy "body stuff" going on. You can wake up and lose 2 pounds over night. Could you really do that? No, not really. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound so a 7000 calorie deficit to lose 2 pounds. So without a TON of exercise, you can't lose 2 pounds overnight. Again, it is just the body doing what it does.
Try and look at the big picture. If there is nothing medically from keeping tyou from losing weight (and it doesn't appear there is), the weight will come off at some point if you are following a healthy, low calorie diet and exercising.
Hang in there! Best of luck to you as you continue your journey.

I have to agree! I've perused other month threads, and when i saw that there were only a few 100 a figured I had missed some or something! LoL
We are lucky to have such a big, supportive group!

Get the sleeve.
Sorry. Just kidding (boy I hope you have a good sense of humor)...
Cut soda, carbs (no white stuff--flour, sugar ), eating after dinner, walk (or whatever exercise you can do). For Snacks just have lots of sugar free ice pops in every flavor handy and herbal teas (take long to drink- give taste buds a "fix"). Oh and tons of Water. Start drinking Protein shakes- they fill you up for so long and have great Protein so you have energy.
Good luck!!

I'm sorry you are frustrated right now. Please try and remember that this is your journey and your journey is unique to you. It is really hard not to compare your weight loss with others. I know. I'm 9 weeks out and still struggle with that.
Your weight loss/gain really is all about your body and technical things probably way beyond anything we could ever understand. I weigh every day without fail. However, I only record my weight every Monday. When I weighed in on July 30th, I was up 2 pounds. What did I do "wrong" that week? Absolutely nothing. I wasn't happy, but it happens. However, when I weighed in this past Monday, I was down 5.6. What did I do different from the week I gained? Absolutely nothing. It is just how my body is processing my eating habits. If you think about it, it really is just crazy "body stuff" going on. You can wake up and lose 2 pounds over night. Could you really do that? No, not really. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound so a 7000 calorie deficit to lose 2 pounds. So without a TON of exercise, you can't lose 2 pounds overnight. Again, it is just the body doing what it does.
Try and look at the big picture. If there is nothing medically from keeping tyou from losing weight (and it doesn't appear there is), the weight will come off at some point if you are following a healthy, low calorie diet and exercising.
Hang in there! Best of luck to you as you continue your journey.

I'm another patient of Dr. Nick and attend Dr. Ashmore's weekly group now. Dr. Ashmore reason for 20 percent gaining their weight back isn't due to stomach stretching but due to grazing. He has said on multiple occassions it is the number one reason people aren't successful post VSG.
BTW, for you Dallas girls, we started a monthly support group where we get together the first Saturday of each month for lunch. If you ate interested, send me your first name, what city you live in and your email address and I will add you to the list.

I'm not put on FB for a couple of reasons. First, I don't put a lot of personal information on there and never have. Second, because some of those people I'm not really close to and I'm somewhat selective about who knows I had the VSG.

During the surgery the surgeon removes the stretchy part of the stomach which is also where the majority of the hunger hormone is produced. However, the part of the stomach that is left still produces this hormone, just in smaller amounts. You will likely still feel hunger, but it will be significantly less than it was pre-op.

Hi and welcome to VST. As TMyeres1471 pointed out, what you are going through is completely normal. Once you are off restricted diet, your mindset will change. You may still get head hunger, but it won't be what it is now or what is was preop. Also, when you eat you will be satisfied with very little. I've had a few mental hurdles with wanting to eat more than my sleeve will let me, but that is easily solved by slowing down how fast I eat. When it takes longer to eat, I feel like I'm getting more. Yeah, it's head games but it works. Hang in there! I promise it will be better once you are off restricted diet. You ate in a rough part of this journey. Remember, it is only temporary.

I'm trying to get mine there. :-)

I just wanted to say that you August sleevers are impressive with your post count of 1540 and counting!
Best of luck to you all!

What you are experiencing is completely normal. liquids pretty much slide right through so you can have a lot more of them than you think. Also, a lot of people tolerate warm liquids easier than cold liquids so that may be why you got a bunch more Soup in. I found it easier to use soup and broth to get my liquids in than a cold liquid. Also, your question of if you were sleeved. I think most people ask themselves that question. I know I did on more than one occassion. Just wait until you start solids. You will have no doubt then that you have a little bitty tummy.
Congrats on being sleeved and best of luck on your journey!

Today, I am exactly 9 weeks out from surgery and I got a "present" for my anniversary. For the last couple of weeks I have been gaining and losing the same few pounds. Although I understand that is part of the process, I still don't like it. Anyway, I woke up yesterday and weighed as I do every day and the scale was done 2 pounds. Yay! This morning I woke up and again weighed and the scale was down another 2 1/2 pounds. Yippppeee!!! That makes up for stall I was in for the 2 weeks prior. Okay, but all that isn't but my "present". What is my present is that I'm at 49 total pounds lost now......1 more pound till I hit the big milestone of 50 pounds. I've been waiting to hit that milestone and now I'm on the door step to doing it.
For anyone reading who may be considering having the sleeve, do it! It is one of the best decisions of my life. I started this journey at just over 300 pounds. I had high blood pressure for which I took meds and my cholesterol was on the border of needing meds. My whole body hurt all the time and just normal daily activities were a chore and literally a pain to my body. Bending over to tie my shoes or shave my legs was painful and left me breathless. I sweat at the least little exerction and stairs were hard. I felt so helpless to control my relationship with food and thus lose any weight. Food controlled my life and I was miserable. Today, just a short 9 weeks later, I am so different. My body only has occasssional pains now, I'm down to 1/2 my dose of blood pressure meds, I can tie my shoes and shave my legs with no problems and I have tons of energy these days. Food no longer controls me. Yes, I still have mental battles with it but I'm working on those and learning to quiet those noises in my head that want me to graze all day. I had tons of pain up until I was 4 weeks postop. Knowing what I know now, even that wouldn't stop me from doing it all over again if I had to.
I hope everyone is rocking their sleeve and loving life!

I just wanted to say that you August sleevers are impressive with your post count of 1540 and counting!
Best of luck to you all!

Please, please, please don't back out! Read my post earlier today titled "I LOVE My Sleeve" and see how your life can change quickly.

Hi Linda. Welcome to VST. You've made a good decision to take charge of your life and a great decision, in my opinion, to have VSG. Best of luck to you in your journey.

I just wanted to say that you August sleevers are impressive with your post count of 1540 and counting!
Best of luck to you all!

First off, never be embarrased to ask a question here. There are all kinds of questions asked here we would put under the embarrassing question category.
Now, on to your diahrrhea question. I too had it. It was temporary though...about two weeks if I remember correctly. Others have the opposite problem though. It's hard to tell what you might experience since all our bodies are different.
Good luck to you on your journey!

I'd like to at least see and feel what "too small" may be like! If I don't like it...I'm an expert at gaining weight, I already know that!