@DomLorenVSG

Best decision of my life! I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow and I'm down over -40lbs! Everything Dr. A said was right on the money, and I've been super good about working out and eating high Protein and low carb and I haven't stalled yet. Now that I've lost a bit, the numbers aren't big but it's still going down slowly but surely.
Height: 5'9
Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216
1st Primary Goal Weight: 169
2nd Optimal Goal Weight: 145
Sleeve Journey:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog
Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2)
Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2)
Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8)
Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-22.5 lbs)
Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9)
Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5)
Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1)
Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-11.6 lbs)
Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5)
Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5)
Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1)
Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1)

I could easily consume a two cheesburger, large frie and large diet coke with a dessert from Mc Donalds and even squeeze in a couple of my son's uneaten chicken nuggets before surgery. I attempted 2 french fries and 2 chicken nuggets with Water the other day on the way to his soccer practice and nearly had to pull the car over to throw up. Too much carbs, and too much food period. I'm eating almost 20% of my former diet if not less. Healthy food choices are absolutely essential, but Portion Control is a huge factor as well. Even the food tastes different to me now- and I dislike it. Which is quite helpful because I no longer crave a lot of the crappy food I use to adore.

I completely agree with you. I've always been an athlete and I was in the Army and could eat a hardy diet and stay only slightly overweight, and teeter totter back and forth into a healthy BMI when I was required to. The problem was once I stopped working out my appetite was still there and I wasn't working out nearly as much, the weight didn't come on over night, maybe 3 to 4 lbs a month over the course of a few years that added to about a 50+ lbs weight gain. The bigger I got, the hungerier I was, allllll the time. Dr. Alavarez was my surgeon and he did diagnose me with a metabolic disorder just as you had mentioned. The bigger I got, the hungier I was, and I had complete insulin resistance and was even put on medications for it. After surgery my hunger went almost completely away, and now I have it but in the faintest form. Nothing like it was before- that by itself was life altering. I know how to eat healthy and workout, but my brain was always hungry and I was never on the same page with my body. Self control is mysterious to me- so much self control in other areas of my life, and yet I struggled so fiercely with my weight and controlling my eating habbits

I think someone younger who is only 30# overweight would be well served to do the slow, lifestyle overhaul. Here is why i say that - i have gained and lost and regained bigger numbers then that many many many times. I did it via weight watchers, I did it on my own, I did it using nutrisystems... etc etc. What I could never do was keep it off.
I think the reasons are complex, and hunger played a key role. The fatter I got, the more :"out of control" that hunger got. Metabolic disorder is what they call it now. It is like pre-diabetes even if you don't "test" as that high of blood sugar that is what is really going on. I have a fat pony who is always hungry and can eat until he explodes, there is no off button - I have to physically limit his access to food and then there is my lean riding horse that stops when he is done even if delicious food is sitting in front of him. There is something physically different - it isn't a character flaw that fat pony is always hungry (he isn't really fat, but blink and he gets that way). My vet calls it a predisposition to insulin resistance - the key is to not let him get fat or he will develop a full on metabolic disorder - that is what I had.
So, diets are great for short term, but what I needed was a deeper understanding of my illness and how to manage it. If it were my daughter, I would counsel her to work with a nutritionalist that understands all this - and many of them don't. Learn how to eat really small portions of moderate carb. I am talking basically no simple carbs and limited veggie/fruit and whole grain carbs. I would visualize losing those 30 pounds over a year or two - really slow - but the main thing is learning how to manage this "illness" this metabolic monster. I don't know for sure, but I think if i had been able to do that when I was young I would not have needed WLS.
I was never a binger like eat 2 hamburgers at a sitting or anything. I was more a persistant over eater. Every meal, just eating a little too much. Too often having seconds. Too often having dessert or some high carb delight. My hubby could never understand how I kept so much weight on as it never seemed like I ate huge portions or ate all the time. He was right, it was more like always eating a bit too much, a bit too rich of food and it really adds up.
I still find it shocking that a full grown adult who is fairly active (me) lives on eating meals from a teaplate. The idea is still mind boggling, but it is the reality for some of us "fat ponies"

The key is tracking food and exercise. The problem is you can't stop tracking. At first you write down everything you are going to eat for the day and all your exercise in advance. If it's not written down you don't eat it. Once you get beyond that you track what you eat and do as you do it. Once you hit your daily allowances you stop.
The problem is it's tough to maintain that regimen indefinitely. If you can though and don't have other medical issues, like diabetes, it will work.

I could easily consume a two cheesburger, large frie and large diet coke with a dessert from Mc Donalds and even squeeze in a couple of my son's uneaten chicken nuggets before surgery. I attempted 2 french fries and 2 chicken nuggets with Water the other day on the way to his soccer practice and nearly had to pull the car over to throw up. Too much carbs, and too much food period. I'm eating almost 20% of my former diet if not less. Healthy food choices are absolutely essential, but Portion Control is a huge factor as well. Even the food tastes different to me now- and I dislike it. Which is quite helpful because I no longer crave a lot of the crappy food I use to adore.

I am 16 weeks post op and I have dropped 85 pounds to hit my initial goal of 190. I plan to drop another 15 so I have some room to bounce back. I do not plan to live like a saint.

I had success both with Weight Watchers and Low Carb diet- but as soon as I lost the weight and went back into normal eating patterns all the weight came back on. Tracking my food always helped me to see how much I was really consuming, but most of the time I was depressed because even if I was over my allotted calories I was still always hungry. I'm just naturally always hungry. Immediately- as soon as I got sleeved I realized I wasn't hungry, and that in itself was life changing. No diet or magic pill could give me the sunsation of being full.

I'm 3 years out .. here are my pics

Almost the entire day went by before I realized that my surgery was one year ago today!! It's actually nice not to constantly be thinking about my weight and food all the time. I'm just enjoying my life sooooo much I don't have time to think about that stuff anymore!!! And I can honestly say, this has been the BEST year in my 43 years on the planet!!! it hasn't always been easy, but "The hard is what makes it great"!!!
I have fulfilled a 5 year dream to become a triathlete!! I did 3 triathlons this past summer and am planning on doing 5-6 next year. My goal now is to begin to do longer races and eventually do an Ironman (2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, ending with a marathon). It sounds crazy, I know.....but I just having a burning desire to see what my body can do!!
I still have about 40 pounds to lose and I imagine it's going to take me some time to lose it as I'm consistently losing about 2-4 pounds per month (which I'm totally ok with). I can pretty much eat anything at this point....but the amount depends on the food. meat and raw fruits and veggies still fill me up super fast with just a few bites. My relationship with food has completely changed....I now eat to live instead of living to eat!!!
I absolutely LOVE my sleeve and i 100% recommend this journey to those who are still on the fence about it. I've heard a lot of people say that they don't want to "take the easy way out"...in fact, I was one of those people for many years. I always thought I should be able to "do it on my own". Well, I didn't because I couldn't. I needed help. And this journey has been anything BUT easy!! It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also the best thing I've ever done!!!!
So, here are some pics. The first one was taken 3 months before my surgery. There is also one of me with both of my legs in my BIG GIRL pants (which I used to fill out completely!!!).
      

I was able to do an extremely low-carb diet successfully about 10 years ago and lost a good deal of weight, but I couldn't sustain it and gained it all back, plus lots more. The other problem that I'm looking forward to alleviating with my sleeve is that it is so hard physically for me to exercise at this weight and exercise is a big deal in sustained weight loss/maintenance also. I'm afraid I can't think of anything as effective as WLS, so do you mind if I ask why it is not an option for your daughter?

111 pounds gone FOREVER! I am 10 pounds passed my original "goal"! I have NEVER felt so amazing & am so in love with the new me!
HOWEVER, there is one VERY BIG problem-- I am now a SHOPAHOLIC hahaha! My hubby has decided to pull the purse strings a little tighter, because I seem to get carried away! This is coming from the girl who HATED, & I mean HATED to shop! I would get anxiety and usually cry in the dressing rooms! There was actually a few times that my husband would come into the dressing rooms to try to encourage me & keep me in good spirits- NOW, he refused to come shopping with me because I fall in love with everything I try on LOL! He says "i'm not needed for moral support anymore" & he is right! AHHH, what a FABULOUS year!
Start weight- 249.8
CURRENT- 139.0
Start BMI- 48.6
CURRENT- 27.1

This surgery amazes me everyday. I am almost 70

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pounds down and feeling great. My three week stall did not even phase me bc of the great advice I have received from this forum. Over halfway to my goal

Today is my 16 week surgiversary. I've lost a total of 65 pounds. This has been a week of reaching milestones in my weight loss journey. This morning, I weighed the very lowest amount since 2004. My weight this morning was 199.6!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I originally set this as my goal weight for December 31.
I’ve lost an average of 3.73 pound per week or just slightly over ½ pound per day!!!
At the three month post op mark, they project that 35% of excess body weight should have been lost. I lost 48.4%!!!
I realized that I’ve now lost more than ½ of the amount of the weight recommended to be within a healthy body weight index (bmi).
These are just the recent victories that I’ve had that are associated with the weight loss. There are several more ‘victories’ that I’ve noticed that have nothing to do with the number on the scale.< /span>
· The seatbelt on the airplane on a trip 3 weeks ago had PLENTY of room.
· One day, while sightseeing, I walked more than 6 miles!
· I am exercising 5 – 6 hours per week in a Jazzercise aerobics class.
· My husband put his arms around me for a hug and called me ‘skinny-bones’.
Good luck to everyone on this journey.

August 17th... And my name is Dom! I'm swamped with work and a lot of other stuff but i get home and all I can do is read threads and dream of the not so distant future! I can't sleep and it's all I think about when I get down time. Tick tock on the clock, huuurrryyyy up calendar!

100 pounds gone...... Sorry about the first pic I just woke up

Starting weight 243
Current weight 137
Surgery date 01/23/12
LOVE MY SLEEVE!!!

I'm just going to put my two cents in that my best friend had this done 2 years ago and she and I have done extensive research on both price and doctor qualifications. We researched their American board certified credentials, checked to make sure they are eligible to practice in both Mexico and the USA, we looked at patient complications, mortality rate, etc. Within those results we made our decision, she went to Dr. Aceves (spelling?) and I've chosen Dr. Alvarez. We both paid within a few hundred dollars of each other. I did the financing option, and she was able to secure a private lower interest loan.
This surgery was quoted to me at $29000 and $33000 for Birmingham and Atlanta in the US

When I started this journey on June 18, 2012 I weighed 334 lbs (surgery day), I wore a 5x from Catherine's which is the largest size they have, today I am down 83 lbs and went in there to find a warm up/track suit to wear on our vacation to Gatlinburg in a couple of weeks, well the only size I could wear was the 0x which is the smallest size they have! So I'm standing at the checkout and my eyes were welling up with tears and the ckout lady thought something was wrong with me, so I made it to my car and I just sat there and cried like a baby! I am so grateful for this surgery!

90% at almost a year out... But that is with my ideal weight being at 150 which I think is way to thin for someone my height.

So let me describe SEVERAL of the issues I'm dealing with right now, and why I'm closely analyzing who may or may not be in my life. I have know for sometime I've had several friends who used me as the "fat wingman"... little comments like "when you lose weight you could totally knock them dead" and "but your just bigger and there are guys that like big girls, just not the ones you are attracted too." Sounds horrific to hear so called "friends" say this, but here's the catch:
I'm a PhD student. I'm 28. I'm a single mom. I work for th University that I attend, and I do pretty damn well. Oh, and since I got my full time student status back I'm also a collegiate athlete playing Water polo under the NCAA. When you find someone who's doing as much as I am, at the level I am- let me know, cause I want them to be my new best friend.
I'm a threat. When I got divorced 4 years ago, I had so many wives drop me like bad habits because they didn't want a single successful woman around their husbands. I was devistated. Last year when I got accepted for my PhD my family told me no man would ever want an over weight woman with a PhD. I was devistated yet again. Last month I went out with younger college friends to Celebrate the start of the semester, and I literally had a guy walk up to me and say "wow if you could only lose like 50 lbs you could totally compete wtih these other girls." I wasn't devistated- I was mortified.
Since the surgery I've decided to take time off from dating or going out. I decided to focus on my training and weight loss. People I consider my friends I'm watching very closely as the weight comes off. Girls don't like to be threatened and they don't like competition, and boy oh boy am I in the wrong place. I have thousands of light weight co-eds competing for attention. I'm not 21 anymore, and I have a child and responsibilites. But for the few older friends I have, I'm waiting to see who isn't interested in having the fat wingman anymore. WHo starts forgetting to invite me places. And I know I'm not paranoid because when I had several serious conversations wtih people about it, they're responses were all the same... "Oh dom, you will always be Dom the Mom, nothings ever going to change..."
uh huh. Let's see what happens when I drop 70 lbs and hit my goal weight and see what they say.

My sleeve was September 26th I'm doing 3 walks a day 1 1/2 Miles each 7 days a week.

My doc finally cleared me to be back in the Water again 15 days post op. I have a pretty crazy workout schedule. I play collegiate Water polo 4 nights a week for 2.5 hours, and I swim on the University’s Master's Swim team on my lunch 3 days a week for 1.5 hours. The first 2 days were the roughest, I was extremely sore and exhausted. Doing this much working out on such little calories is daunting and not for the faint of heart. I'm 6 week out tomorrow and don't remember the last time I felt this good!
I will say that doing team/club sports is night and day different from going to the gym on my own. I'm lucky to stay focused enough to do 45 minutes on an elliptical or treadmill, whereas when I get in the water I'm not staying place, I'm engaging with other people, being pushed by my team members, and have a coach guiding my workouts. I never get bored. My mindset is not to just survive practice, but to be one of the best, swim the fastest, throw the ball the hardest, and be an MVP. When I do get out of the water whether it was water polo or masters swim- I'm Jello, my body is completely exhausted and I feel like an Olympic champion (minus those sweet little gold medals). I have several fitness goals this semester, and I'm so motivated to get into the best shape ever, regardless of what the scale says. Our first ranked NCAA tournament is this weekend. Bet your bottom I've been going all Kong Fu Panda on my workouts-and the bonus?- I'm going to lose weight. I <3 my sleeve.

Actually a bit smaller! Each doc uses different French Boguie sizing (a way to measure how big your stomach is...). My doctor is amazing and actually has an entire youtube channel dedicated to explaining, and showing things, and answering questions. It was SOOOOOOOOOO valuable to go through all his stuff before surgery. Take a look! : http://www.youtube.com/user/Endobariatric
Good Luck!