Fiddleman

Not sure what others think, but I used a Designer whey product for a while. It is flavorless. I haven't used it since puree stage so don't remember much about it.

To OP-I share your struggle as a 9 month post op myself. Every day, I swear I talk myself out of eating something extra. Getting quite old. I just want to go drink a quart of hoodia or something and make the hunger beast go back in the cave. I have noticed my diet including too many Proteins bars. This has helped fuel my hunger be cause they have some processed sugar in them (2g) even though high in Protein and low in fat. Today, I have given up my Protein Bars and am now going back to dense protein for Snacks. costco really helps me out with chicken products like meat balls, fingers, patties and sausage. All low fat / low carb chicken. I admit that this is helping me today and I will keep it up a while. I want to keep lean, but also gain muscle without putting on the lbs. The dense protein will help me with this as I won't be consuming any sugar. Nada. To others-hunger is the real deal after month 6. It is constant and you have go be stronger then it. I am working on it. Good luck. Let's beat this hunger down. It is no fun to be hungry all the time.

It is possible, but takes a lot of work after month 6. You have to double down your commitment to both exercise and eating well. The last 15 lbs to goal is quite a bit of intense activity. I have lost about 180 lb in about 6 months and hit goal at that time. Currently on Month 9. The biggest struggle I have now is with maintaining within +3 lb. Hunger is a constant issue and having to learn new ways of dealing with it.

Nine months out and reached goal of 180 lb February 2013. My weight fluctuates 1-3 lbs up usually when I am not drinking enough to keep up with exercise, not sleeping enough or I eat protein bars. I find if I eat Paleo with the exception of protein shake, I can drop 3 lb in a day even though eating 6 x a day of small protein meals. My hunger also goes way down when processed food is cut from diet. I get my veggies through 2 daily green drinks and nutrition through supplements. It is very interesting at how fast our weight can cycle which makes me believe it is a lot of water weight. Love using daily exercise to keep weight in check and energy levels high.

Just saw this in my news ticker: http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-04-15/explosion-reported-at-boston-marathon-finish-line/ None of you ran the Boston Marathon today i hope. Prayers go out.

Cold stone anyone?

I was not trying to be mean at all in that post, just being a firm voice for the success of VSG as a viable solution for both pre ops needing to evaluate a decision and post ops needing to validate their decision. I think several people read it quite the wrong way or I entirely came across the wrong way in how I communicated my opinion. There was even another thread started as on offshoot where I was hung.

Yes, that is well said. Post op is a very pliable situation and not a success or a failure (insert Yoda-ism here, lol). There is never failure until you give up and stop trying. Each meal, each day, each week, each month or even in some cases, each year, is an opportunity to reevaluate. It is a time to pause and take a roll of what is working and what is not working. And then make a small change. As long as you are goal driven, your subconscious mind has no choice but to align circumstances to help move you towards that goal.

You can do it Laura! Take a deep breath. Keep calm and carry on. Winston Churchill said that I believe during WWII in the midst of insurmountable odds. You are a strong person. Maybe you need "we are the champions" or the Rocky theme playing in your ears when you have those scary moments of regain. Seriously, there might be a thought, a visual or an audio that might help you in those burning times of desire to eat. Regain is something I think a lot about because I too fell off my horse today (maybe it was from getting beat up on a different thread). I may look like my post op is all unicorns and rainbows ( did I just say that?), but controlling my eating when hunger strikes is really hard even though I am already eating Protein every 3 hours. Your struggle with food is probably different from mine. Some people eat candy, some people eat bread. My habit is to eat 2-3 Protein Bars when 1 or none is better. It is scary when my body screams for another after one. My resolve is to eat max one a day. And if that does not work, get them the hell out of the house. I already tried moving them to the garage, but that only lasted for a few days. 2 protein bars is about 400 calories and 40 carbs. Not the end of the world, but I hate the feeling of losing power over food no matter what it is. This issue got a lot stronger at month 7, especially when I started exercising quite a bit daily. So what am I saying? We all struggle with hunger and those nagging desires post op. Wish they did not exist, but that is something we need to understand about ourselves and learn to cope with. I do not know the answers, but know they will be found as post op journey carries on. Keep calm and carry on.

Very happy for you and your joy shows in your picture. Cheers.

Lmao! And the really funny part is little kids can squat much better then us adults!

I can tell you a little bit of why you experience the symptoms you described based on what I have read in the past. I take zero responsibility for its accuracy. Pre sleeve much of the sugar, or fat for that matter, is churned with gastric juices in the stomach, essentially neutralizing it for better nutritional processing in the intestines. It is also a controlled release. The stomach churns food about 3 times a minute until the food is ready to be released into the intestines. Post op, the stomach no longer is able to perform this preprocessing step of churning (as 75% is cut out), and as a consequence, a lot of sugar or fat is dumped directly into the intestines. The intestines are not prepared to handle the blast of sugar or fat and causes reactions around the body such as sweating, increased heart rate, GI tract spasms, etc. It is your body having an adverse reaction to the sugar. Not fatal, but uncomfortable for sure. Some may say this is dumping for us sleevers. That is my bro-science response and I do not know if it is 100% accurate. Use your own judgement.

Wow Laura, you are a celebrity now! Just remember us ("the little people" you met along the way) when you get showered with endorsements deals and commercials.

What are some of the long term benefits you guys have seen with this? Same as what wikipedia says or different?

Hey Laura-sorry to burst your bubble, but I do not believe it is possible to cure an addictive personality. It is in your DNA. The best thing to do is find a healthy addiction to transfer an eating habit to. It does not need to be exercise. Maybe it is scrapbooking, horseback riding, camping, learning or getting really good at a musical instrument or language, playing video games, playing board games, etc. It can be anything that becomes an outlet for your attention. That being said, being a health / exercise fanatic is not a bad place to be....

Nope, this is not going to turn into a cheeseburger thread. That is like the 6th level of hell. Damn, my dinner came up, all 4 ounces of pork. My tummy did not give me a pass. Not the drink though. I think it was that pork at Daves. Better luck next time.

And with a straw. * gasp * do not worry, I only started to use a straw after 6 months.

My problem is gassing all day! Luckily I can blame it on the dog. Lol.