Sweetpea1

You've lost a ton of weight and are very close to your goal. Hang in there and don't be so hard on yourself.

I did reach goal, but it took me 18 months. Hang in there and don't get discouraged. There is no expiry date on the sleeve and for how long we can lose weight. It just might take a little more work than it did in the beginning.

I truly enjoyed this post and the comments. I too have had hunger return with a vengeance. I am 17 months out, find I can and do eat a lot more "naughty" foods, but so far when I'm bad, I try and substitute that day's calorie intake with more exercise or a Protein drink for a Meal Replacement. I still use a bread and butter plate as my guide, I try my best to use portions that I remember from the earlier days. My Dr told me to use the smaller plate for the rest of my life and I'll not regain the weight. I also try to stick to the the 5 meal rule. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and two Snacks at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Overall we are human, we will make mistakes, but I think the hunger pangs come and go. I agree with Cowgirl Jane, a good cup of coffee with a flavored Creamer and it knocks the hunger out for me. I also notice my severe hunger comes after eating carbs like sugary things. I have battled my weight my entire life, I've always been able to lose, but never maintain. I have not lost any weight in nearly 6 months, but I don't want to. I want to maintain my current weight for years.
Keeping my fingers crossed that we all can...

I had 1/2 cup whole wheat spaghetti with 1 wingette. Honestly, i wanted to eat another wing, but couldnt! lol

Good advice 803Misty. I feel the same way. Dont compare yourself to anyone else because you have no idea what happened on their end. Whether is was complications from the surgery itself or if it was something they did to may have caused the problem. Just listen to your body and follow the rules. If you feel something isnt right, go to the ER at once, otherwise, enjoy your procedure and make it work for you! Good Luck to you!

You guys are giving me an idea to join this! is it just myfitnesspal.com?

Thank you Susan you just gave me hope. I was wondering if I was going to give up my dream of a kegerater next to my grill.
I am a low BMI vsg patient. I really have not been counting calories or watching my carbs. I do go to bootcamp twice a week. I am at 7 1/2 weeks and I'm at nearly half my goal. I am loving my sleeve. I'm fine giving up sodas but the beer was making me a little uneasy.

I am 3 weeks post op. I had no gas pain, but a lot of abdominal pain from the incisions. Mainly on my left side-and it still hurts. I started off on the morphine pump in the hospital, which I used as I needed to. After that I was on the liquid Lortab which I continued at home, but now I only take Tylenol every once in a while (usually at night) for the pain/burning on my left side. I think it has taken me a while longer to get rid of this left side pain because I have a one year old that I have to lift. All in all, I did regret my surgery for the first couple of days just because of how sore I was, but now I have NO regrets. In my opinion temporary discomfort is so worth it when you see that scale moving down, down, down!

JRoybal My NUT and dr. told me not to have any carbanated drinks , ever
raising our glasses, lets have a drink to our health, Water of course
good luck
kathy
ps
came back to edit now
SweetPea 1, cynthia
we must have posted at the same time
came back

Lord willing this time tomorrow I willbe out of surgery and in a room recovering! WOOHOOO
I am supposed to be at the hospital by 8:45 for them to take me back by 10:30 but we all know how that goes!
I am excited yet nervous too, I have had the band (2x) but had it removed due to prolapse. I am praying that I will ahve NO leaks or complications with the sleeve. My Dr said that since I had had 2 previous bands that my 'leak' rate doubled. It went from 1% to 2%. I jsut don't wnat any complications. I know n o one does either.
So after tomorrow I will no longet be a PRE but a POST surgical sleever.
This is ONE CLUB I am HAPPY to join!!!
LaQuita
aka
TXMIMI

I have been having to wear a girdle, ever since my wife found one under the seat of my car - LOL
"No, it's mine, really...."

Hee Hee, Pip! We were fondling the implants yesterday and DH made a comment about how natural they felt! LOL I agreed that they did feel pretty natural. I've always imagined they'd feel more plastic and harder than they did. If I'm going through the pain of surgery, though, I want EVERYONE to know I had my boobs done!

Hello Community! I normally don't post at forums. I either, never find the time or I am always on the run.
However, I felt the need to post my experience because comming to this forum and reading all the posts, helped me so much throught the process so I want to share my experiece so far.
Everything started six months ago when I learned that I needed the 6-month weight in process for insurance approval. For those of you felling disapointed for the wait, dont worry,it will past fast, so enjoy your six months!.
During the process I learned that I suffered form sleep apnea, That, added to my fatty liver and a BMI of 45 (324 Lbs, 5'11''), helped with Insurance approval the first time.
Procedure was approved on July 25th 2012 and scheduled with Dr. Whitwell for August 8th. Due to the quick turn around I had to start the liquid diet inmeditely and to be honest this has been the toughest part so far. Making the transition from eating anything I wanted to just liquids was really though, especially the headaches and temptations.
Surgery went well, for the next 2 days I felt horrible, I had sore muscles. I was not in a lot of pain but very unconfortable. My appettite was gone. On the 3rd day I was released form the hospital and Saturday and Sunday was very unconfortable with gas pains, soreness and the incisions hurt a lot especially while coughing or moving too much while sleeping. But Monday I started feeling much better and today I just walked the dog for 30 minutes.
I know it is just the beginning but I feel so good already that I wanted to share my experience, My apetite is gone and I feel full after just a few spoons of broth (hard to beleive). If you are doutbting yourself about the surgery, don't. I was there, I was at this forum the night before the surgery reading all kind of posts and the support was amazing!
So far I have lost 38 pounds and I am looking forward to where can I start exercising so I can start a running program!
It is amazing how a few months ago I was depressed without a clear goal in my life. I felt that I just gave up on myself.
Now I look at life in a different way and I feel great about how my wife and kids are so happy about my change!
Thanks and good luck with your journey!

yes! kdippy, please stay strong because it can happen. I had to train my brain that i have to put healthy things in my body to get the results that i want. it is very hard and im glad that you realized it in time. you are used to having those things before and your mind is telling you that you still want them. i had a hard time about 2 weeks post op that i had to fight with my brain! lol, i think the change came when my cholesterol was 237 in dec and when i took it in april, it was 113! along with all of the rest of my bloodwork that used to be high, was no longer high. I really like that feeling and now im really careful what i eat. I had my surgery on march 30th and have lost 42 lbs in total, thats with preop diet included. YOU CAN DO IT! AND PLEASE DONT FORGET ABOUT EXERCISE!

Most likely that was my doctor (I know mine did a live VSG on Saturday, not sure if other docs were doing this). Yes, he's a leading surgeon with close to 12 years in VSG surgeries. He absolutely said what most have said here -- the sleeve CAN stretch, but only to 2 or 3 times the size it's reduced to. So if you can hold 3-4oz now, then with enough overeating and time you might be able to hold 6-10oz in the future. He also stresses that this surgery is not a magical "cure" forever. It is absolutely possible to regain all of your weight back and more IF YOU CHOOSE to lapse back into your old, bad eating habits for a period of time. The smaller stomach is a TOOL to help us get to goal without fighting the hunger and enormous volume we used to be able to take in.
Doing this surgery is a lifelong commitment. One everyone should do whether they have this surgery or not. It's knowing how to eat for optimum health instead of abusing food for "sport" -- how to incorporate exercise into our lives forever. Most obese people have a hard time getting past the first few weeks or months of a diet because it's not fast enough and we become discouraged. Going to the gym hurts, and for good reason because we've got so much pressure on our knees, ankles, and backs!! The surgery is just a good friend who keeps you motivated and limits your ability to truly do more damage. But the real challenge is making changes to eat healthy, watch the nasty carbs (white flour, rice, etc.), count calories when you can, pay attention to portions, drink plenty of the RIGHT fluids (kick the soda habit FOR GOOD), and make activity and exercise an essential part of your life. There are plenty of people who have successfully held off regain for many years. Some in our group are going on 4-5 years. Just like RNY or DS, the surgery is just one step. The rest is up to you.
If anyone thinks they can have this surgery, lose the weight and then just go back to junk food, alcohol, sugar -- just in smaller portions, and not in moderation -- they are fooling themselves and will most likely regain.
There is an image on this forum showing a stomach right after surgery and then 4 years out. It is stretched but still teeny tiny

If you must snack, make it something that's good for you. However, chips and the like are sliders for many of us. We have to learn to control those Snacks. They aren't bad in and of themselves, but we have to be able to say No or at least limit the portion.
Cheetos are my nemesis. If I really REALLY want them, I buy a single serving bag and I enjoy every last chee in the bag. Then I don't allow myself to have any more for at least a month. This keeps me from going off the deep end and sitting in a corner like a heroin addict eating cheetos and screaming "Mine, all mine!!!"

Well, I've also been very athletic and worked out 4-5 days a week prior to being sleeved. I've now lost 54lbs (well, 61lbs including pre-op weight loss) and I have definitely noticed sagging skin! This is why I now workout 6-7 days a week and mix it up with spinning, boot camp type classes, barre method classes, yoga, and walking/hiking, and soon I plan to start jogging again. I've also noticed stretch marks (I think they show more as you loose weight). Anyway, I'm just hoping everything tightens up with persistence and doing something everyday. I'm going to loose ~60 more lbs and I'd rather have stretch marks and some loose skin than not loose the weight.
Have to say, I feel great!!! I need to post some pics some time soon.
One Love.

Wow! Congrats, that is so exciting!

You seem to be right on schedule, you should be in the transformation to reg foods. if you are having trouble, try pureeing them for a while, but you have to get to them. Listen to your body but please get them in. I was eating reg foods 1 month out, its only a lil but im eating.

I'm 100 lbs down... today Yay !!! Yay!!! Yay!!!
Before
After

I crack myself up...the other night we stopped at Cracker Barrel ...I used to get the "big breakfast".......what was I thinking? I ate the over easy eggs and was STUFFED..........oh well.....usually my 4 year old and I share so she ate the rest..........it is weird what your head wants and what your stomach can hold is two different things.
On the good side.....I am down 75 lbs.....YEA!!! Went from a size 22 to a size 14 (which is LOOSE) ..........
Not in the fat girl sizes anymore...........get to go to the normal racks which is kind of weird..........